Carbon electrodes could slash cost of solar panels


	Carbon electrodes could slash cost of solar panels

JICWyllie

12-28-2007 5:42 AM

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tags:

energy, solar, i-technology, i-innovation, i-supply, i-opportunity

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<div style="margin: 12px 0px; font-family: arial; color: #333333; background: #ffffff; border: solid 4px #e5e5e5; width: 100%; clear: left;"><div class="CM_CTB_Content_Wrap" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;background-color: #ffffff;"><div style="border-bottom: solid 1px #dcdcdc; white-space: nowrap; margin-bottom: 8px; background-color: #eeeeee ;background-image: url(http://www.clipmarks.com/images/source-bg.gif); background-repeat: repeat-x; height: 24px; line-height: 24px; vertical-align: middle; padding-bottom: 4px; color: #666666; font-size: 10px;" ><a href="http://clipmarks.com/clip-to-blog/" title="see clips that are hot right now"><img src="http://content.clipmarks.com/blog_embed/11e26b27-f90b-43e1-bd5a-86fa0f4cecb1/A5630A0E-85C5-40A2-AE06-7EF51F98A910/" alt="" width="19" height="19" border="0" style="vertical-align: middle; margin: 0px 4px; display: inline; border: none; float:none;" /></a>clipped from <a title="http://environment.newscientist.com/channel/earth/energy-fuels/dn13103-carbon-electrodes-could-slash-cost-of-solar-panels.html?feedId=energy-fuels_rss20" href="http://environment.newscientist.com/channel/earth/energy-fuels/dn13103-carbon-electrodes-could-slash-cost-of-solar-panels.html?feedId=energy-fuels_rss20" style="font-size: 11px;">environment.newscientist.com</a></div><blockquote style="text-align: left; padding: 0px 8px; margin: 4px 0px 8px 0px; background: transparent; border: none;" cite="http://environment.newscientist.com/channel/earth/energy-fuels/dn13103-carbon-electrodes-could-slash-cost-of-solar-panels.html?feedId=energy-fuels_rss20"><P>Solar cells, LCDs, and some other devices, must have transparent electrodes in parts of their designs to let light in or out. These electrodes are usually made from indium tin oxide (ITO) but <A href="http://environment.newscientist.com/channel/earth/mg19426051.200-earths-natural-wealth-an-audit.html">experts calculate that there is only 10 years' worth of indium left on the planet</A>, with LCD panels consuming the majority of existing stocks.</p> <P>"There is not enough indium on earth for the future development of devices using it," says Linjie Zhi of the <A target="ns" href="http://www.mpip-mainz.mpg.de/theory.html">Max Planck Institute for Polymer Research</A> in Mainz, Germany. "It is also not very stable, so you have to be careful during the fabrication process."</p> <P>Although experimental alternatives to ITO exist, these are also unstable and of unproven efficiency.</P></blockquote><div style="height: 2px; font-size: 2px; background: #dcdcdc; border-bottom: solid 1px #f5f5f5; margin: 2px 4px;"></div><blockquote style="text-align: left; padding: 0px 8px; margin: 4px 0px 8px 0px; background: transparent; border: none;" cite="http://environment.newscientist.com/channel/earth/energy-fuels/dn13103-carbon-electrodes-could-slash-cost-of-solar-panels.html?feedId=energy-fuels_rss20">They are testing solar cells with transparent electrodes made from <A href="http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg18424713.000-pencils-sketch-out-next-electronics-revolution.html">graphene</A> – flat sheets of carbon atoms arranged in a hexagonal structure. When rolled up, this material makes carbon nanotubes.</blockquote><div style="height: 2px; font-size: 2px; background: #dcdcdc; border-bottom: solid 1px #f5f5f5; margin: 2px 4px;"></div><blockquote style="text-align: left; padding: 0px 8px; margin: 4px 0px 8px 0px; background: transparent; border: none;" cite="http://environment.newscientist.com/channel/earth/energy-fuels/dn13103-carbon-electrodes-could-slash-cost-of-solar-panels.html?feedId=energy-fuels_rss20">"It is very stable in the face of heat and acidic conditions," says Zhi, "which makes fabrication much easier."</blockquote></div><div style="margin: 0px 6px 6px 4px;"><table style="font-size: 11px;border-spacing: 0px;padding: 0px;" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="100%"><tr><td style="background:transparent;border-width:0px;padding:0px;">&nbsp;</td><td align="right" style="background:transparent;border-width:0px;padding:0px;width:107px" width="107"><a href="http://clipmarks.com/share/A5630A0E-85C5-40A2-AE06-7EF51F98A910/blog/" title="blog or email this clip"><img src="http://content7.clipmarks.com/images/c2b-foot.png" border="0" alt="blog it" width="107" height="17" style="border-width:0px;padding:0px;margin:0px;" /></a></td></tr></table></div></div>