Dyesol, the world leader in the commercialisation of Dye Solar Cell (DSC) technology, has achieved a "game changing" technical breakthrough by achieving a solid-state DSC efficiency of 11.3% at full sun.
The breakthrough comes as the technology transitions from liquid-based to solid-state systems to meet the demands of product life and mass manufacture. The variation in technology, known as mesoscopic solar cells, meets the technical challenges of mass manufacturing Building Integrated Photovoltaic (BIPV) products and will allow Dyesol and its multi-national commercialisation partners to confidently address the multi-billion dollar global market.
In 2010, solid-state DSC performance was at a mere 5%, significantly lagging the performance of liquid based systems. However, the subsequent technical advancement has been nothing short of revolutionary. Dyesol, through the work of its scientist Dr Peng Qin, based at the École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL) in Switzerland, has achieved solid-state DSC laboratory efficiency of 11.3%. Dyesol is also confident of achieving industrial efficiencies greater than 10% because of the added simplicity of working with solid-state systems. At this level of module performance the technology will be grid competitive - the "holy grail" for renewable energy technologies.
This achievement is particularly important in solar markets where light conditions are sub-optimal, such as Europe, North America and North-East Asia, where Dyesol technology has a considerable advantage over 1st and 2nd generation photovoltaic technologies.
Chairman Richard Caldwell said: "The business case for solar remains compelling, however there is every reason to question which technologies will emerge from the current solar industry maelstrom as winners. Today's announcement represents a quantum leap for Dyesol and its' commercialisation partners and we look forward to a rapid transition from the laboratory to the production line".
Dyesol has been working closely with R&D partner, the EPFL, and is confident of announcing further improvements in solid-state performance in the near term. Remarkably, solid-state performance is confidently expected to outperform all hitherto known and published liquid-based efficiencies. DSC inventor and EPFL Professor, Michael Graetzel, is speaking at the HOPV Conference in Seville, Spain this week where he will be discussing some of the latest technological developments.
Source: http://www.dyesol.com/