Plastic Solar Cells

With the world’s population is growing so quickly, how will we all be supplied with electricity sustainably? Reserves of all the major fossil fuels are dwindling more and more rapidly due to demand increases.

As these supplies diminish, they become impractically expensive for more and more people. Plus, there is global warming to deal with! Fortunately, solar panels don’t automatically become more expensive when electricity demand increases. When you buy your own solar panels, you lock in your electricity rate for the next 30 years or more!

Exceptional fill factors arise from high levels of order in the mixture of polymer donor chains and buckyball acceptor components, the way these two components are distributed within the cell active layer, and a "face-on" orientation of the polymer chains on the electrode surface.

The fill factor achieved is more than 10 percent greater than previously achieved by the polymer solar cell community, and, in the present study, although the polymer semiconductors have non-optimal light absorption characteristics, a near-record power-conversion efficiency as high as 8.7 percent is still obtained.

The working principle of polymer solar cells differs greatly from that of traditional silicon solar cells. The active layers of polymer solar cells typically contain a mixture of polymer chains that can donate electrons and "buckyball" molecules that accept electrons. (Buckminsterfullerene, or buckyball, is a spherical fullerene molecule with the formula C60.)

Under solar irradiation, electronic excitation generates mobile electron-hole pairs called excitons. The excitons then diffuse through the active layer of the cell, separating at donor-acceptor interfaces into free charge carriers (electrons and holes) that are collected as electrical current when they reach the cell electrodes.

In spite of the attractions of polymer solar cells, their large-scale application has been limited by the relatively low power-conversion efficiency, which is defined as the percentage of the power generated by the cell versus the power of the incident sunlight. The power produced by a solar cell is the product of three cell performance parameters: the open circuit voltage, the short circuit current and the fill factor. Various strategies now are being developed to increase these parameters to maximize the power-conversion efficiency of the cells.

Transparent HDTV

Does your HDTV just not seem as sleek and sexy as it once was? Now having a flat-panel display mounted to your wall just isn't enough anymore, the completely see-through Loewe Invisio might be just what you're looking for. Designed by Michael Friebe, the transparent television made a big splash in the 2011 iF Concept Design competition, and if we're lucky we may soon see it in our own homes.

Loewe is well known in Europe for its high-end televisions and audio hardware. In fact, the company is said to be in talks with Apple about a possible acquisition. This would give Apple a huge head start if the company decides to release a long-rumored Apple-branded HDTV, and would mean products like the futuristic Invisio could arrive stateside sooner rather than later.

The Invsio looks absolutely stunning — well, as stunning as a see-through television can look. The clear LCD technology allows the display to pop to life when you hit the power button, but then disappear the instant you shut it off. The bottom portion of the set houses all the important bits, and the entire unit can be mounted on a wall if you're not a fan of the shiny silver tabletop stand.





Without a border or frame of any kind, the screen is meant to blend in seamlessly with its surroundings when not in use. The Invisio is clearly meant for TV lovers who want their living rooms to have an air of sophistication on nights when must-see-TV isn't a priority. Of course, if the rear of your entertainment center is littered with cords, you're going to want to clean them up before showing off a new transparent TV.

But don't start saving for this futuristic display just yet — the Invisio isn't yet a Loewe's retail offering, and because it's still considered a concept, it may never be. Of course, one look at the company's plans for other future products — including a TV with two screens and a mirror with built-in social displays (pictured below) — should be enough to tell you that the Invisio may very well see the light of day.






If the Inviso concept sounds like something out of science fiction, don't forget that transparent LCD technology has been around for a while now. Samsung has already shown off its own see-through "Smart Window" technology which allows users to interact with apps, or even pull down a set of virtual shades to dim the daylight. The Invisio would likely work in a similar fashion, though without the addition of touchscreen controls.
Regardless of whether or not it ever becomes a reality, the fact that we have the technology available to make see-through televisions is enough to make us feel like we're living in the future.