Thermoelectric materials are expected to reduce the cost of the photovoltaic industry

The summer has arrived, but the photovoltaic industry is still chilling. In 2011, the global PV industry entered the winter due to economic recession, EU cuts in subsidies, overcapacity, and price wars. Aside from external factors, the main factors that constrain the healthy development of the photovoltaic industry are still efficiency and cost. Through continuous exploration and efforts by the industry, there have been many breakthroughs in technology. For example, the Japan Science and Technology Agency and the University of Tokyo have developed the world's thinnest and lightest organic solar cells, which are only 1.8-1.9 microns thick. Only 1/5 thick of household plastic wrap can be bent like hair without complicated. Engineering and high-priced equipment for low-cost production. At the same time of technological exploration, thermoelectric materials that have been neglected by the industry in the past have begun to slowly return to people's horizons in recent years. The so-called thermoelectric material is theoretically a power generation material using non-visible light. As early as half a century ago, people dreamed of combining thermoelectric materials with visible light solar power. In 1954, solar pioneer Maria Tells used thermoelectric materials to absorb solar heat and successfully convert thermal energy into electricity. At the end of the 1950s, the efficiency of silicon solar cells increased to 6%-8%, while the efficiency of thermoelectric materials remained at 1%. Therefore, the new solar photovoltaic industry has risen rapidly. In the 1970s and 1980s, silicon solar panels began to appear on the roof. Despite the continuous improvement and progress of the process, the conversion rate of solar cells is still between 15% and 20%. The efficiency and cost of the first generation of crystalline silicon cells seem to have reached the limit, which is difficult to break through, and new thermoelectric materials are likely to be solved. these questions. In 2007, American Massachusetts Institute of Technology scholars began to think about whether this material could be re-excavated to help solar cells make full use of most wavelengths of sunlight. If a combination of thermoelectric materials and photovoltaic solar cells is used, it can not only divert high-energy photons, cool the battery, but also make full use of all the sunlight bands. In theory, the best way to combine the two modes of thermoelectricity and photovoltaics is to split the solar cell, which separates the sunlight according to the wavelength. The efficiency of this battery will be 1.5 times that of a standard silicon solar cell, but the spectroscopy and the beam splitting prism are required to achieve the parting, which increases the cost. Researchers at Columbia University use a quantum dot-based material that allows electrons to pass without letting photons pass, ensuring that heat is not carried by photons from the hot end of the thermoelectric material to the cold end, and that both sides can always remain large. The voltage difference increases the efficiency of the thermoelectric material. If this thermoelectric material is combined with photovoltaic power generation, and the light energy intercepted by it is used to boil water, the energy efficiency can reach 50%. Charles Stafford of the University of Arizona also discovered a polyphenolic ethylene polymer. By selecting functional groups on the molecular chain, it is expected to allow electrons to flow in a certain direction. Photons are trapped in this material. Spider web. This can also achieve 20% - 25% solar energy utilization, higher than the existing photovoltaic power generation system. More importantly, the polymer can be brushed onto the roof or wall like a normal paint, and then connected to the electrode to generate electricity from solar energy. In the context of increasing concerns about energy and environmental issues, if thermoelectric materials and solar power are effectively combined, it is an effective way to crack the photovoltaic industry's constraints on cost and efficiency.

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