Nano Solar Technology

Solar power is one of the oldest forms of energy and technology. Nanotechnology is one of the newest. Nano solar technology offers great prospects for mixing the old and new.

Nano Solar Technology

The single biggest hurdle with solar technology is inefficiency. Solar panels are based on a variety of silicon substrates which kick off electrons when struck by sunlight. The elements are collected by small electrodes and converted to electricity. This process, however, is very inefficient, converting only 15 percent of the solar energy to electrical power. The 15 percent figure represents a three fold improvement over the first solar cells, but is still a horrifically low number. Nano solar technology may offer a solution.

Nano technology is manufacturing at a molecular level. One company, InnovaLight, is having a go at applying it to solar technology to create nano solar technology. The idea is abandon the solar cell concept by going outside of the box. Instead of panels, the company hopes to create nano solar dots on a molecular level. The dots will then be incorporated in an ink that can be applied to sheets of building materials. In an ideal situation, this nano solar technology could even be mixed into paint, which would turn the walls of a structure into solar energy platforms.

The real keys to nano solar technology will be efficiency, cost control and flexibility. If the company is successful, the cost of manufacturing and purchasing solar will become exceedingly inexpensive when compared to current platforms. From a flexibility standpoint, the product would allow solar technology to break out of the glass panel restrictions. Further, the nano solar technology is supposedly far more efficient than current models because the dots can be tuned to convert different spectrums of sunlight, a major limitation for current technology. Imagine a house that looked like a “normal house”, but the paint converted sunlight to energy! Goodbye energy problems. Goodbye global warming!

An application the company hasn’t investigated is an application to vehicles. If nano solar technology can be applied as a paint, there would appear to be no reason it couldn’t be used on vehicles. While the power produced would probably be insufficient to power a vehicle completely, it could certain supplement traditional power sources as we now see with hybrid automobiles.

As of early 2006, InnovaLight has successfully produced quantum dots using the nano solar technology. The next step, of course, is turning them into viable commercial products. If the company is able to meet its goals on efficiency, cost and flexibility, the solar industry will mature into a viable mass energy production vehicle. Let’s all hope InnovaLight pulls it off.

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