New ‘green antenna’ could double solar power efficiency

“Many groups around the world are working hard to make this kind of antenna, and ours is the first of its kind in the whole world” said lead researcher Challa V. Kumar. “Most of the light from the Sun is emitted over a very broad window of wavelengths. If you want to use solar energy to produce electric current, you want to harvest as much of that spectrum as possible.”

The team at Connecticut believes its new antenna can capture double the amount of energy utilized by a standard commercial panel. The key to the device’s ability is an organic dye, molecules of which are excited by light photons thereby emitting silicon-friendly photons which can be converted into energy if the right chemical conditions are in place. The researchers embed the dyes inside a protein-lipid hydrogel which keeps the molecules separate but still closely packed. This in turn creates a pinkish film that can be used to coat solar cells in order to vastly improve its ability to capture light. This process is relatively straightforward and isn’t too expensive either. According to Kumar, it can even be done in a kitchen or remote village. Moreover, the materials used in the process are compostable and environmentally friendly, thereby eliminating the prospect of creating toxic waste.

The researchers presented their project at the 250^th National Meeting & Exposition of the American Chemical Society in August and a local Connecticut company has now been enlisted in order to help the team turn the antenna into a commercial product. There are other potential applications besides solar power. The team believes the versatile hydrogel could be used for drug delivery and also in white light-emitting diodes.