Eco Factor: Solar cells lined in optical fibers generate electricity from optical signals.
A group of researchers from the Graduate School of Life Science and Systems Engineering of the Kyushu Institute of Technology have developed a “fiber-type TCO-less dye sensitized solar cell,” which could generate electricity from the light signals transmitted by optical fibers. Composed of dye sensitized solar cells layers concentrically formed around a glass rod with a diameter of 9 mm, the cells convert the light entering from one end of the glass rod into electricity if the incident light is at an angle that doesn’t result in total internal reflection.
The cells are made with a layer of titanium oxide and a sensitizing pigment, with a porous titanium layer serving as the anode and a layer of platinum and titanium serving as the cathode. Presently the cells have a conversion efficiency of 1% using a single type of pigment.
The Dark Side:
With the present technology the efficiency is just 1%, which is being considered good due to the small size of the prototype. However, even with larger fiber, the researchers aren’t expecting a conversion efficiency of more than 10%, which is due to the amount of energy that’s wasted.
Via: TechOn
