Researchers at Purdue University, United States, are developing a technology that could make solar cells more affordable and efficient. The new method involves the use of an ultrafast pulsing laser that “scribes” microchannels in thin film solar cells. Microchannels are needed to interconnect a series of solar panels into an array capable of generating usable amounts of power. Conventional methods of scribing are slow and expensive, and produce imperfect channels, which impede the solar cells’ performance. Yung Shin, a professor of mechanical engineering, said, “Production costs of solar cells have been greatly reduced by making them out of thin films instead of wafers, but it is difficult to create high-quality microchannels in these thin films. The mechanical scribing methods in commercial use do not create high-quality, well-defined channels. Although laser scribing has been studied extensively, until now we haven’t been able to precisely control lasers to accurately create the microchannels to the exacting specifications required.” Research has shown that the fast-pulsing laser accurately forms microchannels with precise depths and sharp boundaries. “The efficiency of solar cells depends largely on how accurate your scribing of microchannels is,” Shin said. “If they are made as accurately as possibly, efficiency goes up.” The article can be viewed online at the link below.
http://www.purdue.edu/newsroom/research/2011/110308ShinSolar.html