Dr Doojin Vak says CSIRO’s flexible, thin solar cells do not need expensive materials, such as gold, in the production process.Dr Doojin Vak says CSIRO’s flexible, thin solar cells do not need expensive materials, such as gold, in the production process.Flexible, thin solar cells that are lightweight and portable may be a step closer to reality after Australian researchers claimed a new record for the amount of sunlight they can capture and turn into energy.
“It’s the best demonstration that this is a viable method of making the solar cells,” CSIRO’s renewable energy systems group leader, said Dr Anthony Chesman, said.The scientists, working in collaboration with researchers from four universities, claimed an efficiency record for fully roll-to-roll printed cells, in which all of the layers of the product were made using printing methods.
The results of the research have been published in the journal Nature Communications. Lead author and CSIRO’s principal research scientist, Dr Doojin Vak, said the efficiencies were made possible by integrating machine learning into the production process. “We developed a system for rapidly producing and testing over 10,000 solar cells a day – something that would have been impossible to do manually,” he said.