Source: Fuel Fix.com
Phillips 66, working with a California solar start-up and a Chinese university, announced Tuesday that researchers have reached a milestone in solar power conversion efficiency.
The alternative energy group at Phillips 66, which split off from ConocoPhillips last spring, has been working with researchers from Solarmer Energy and South China University of Technology for the past two years to develop polymer-based organic photovoltaic cells.
That’s different from the traditional bulky silicon solar panels you see sprouting from the tops of houses and buildings. Organic solar cells are thinner, and ultimately are expected to be less expensive to manufacture.
The cells were certified at 9.31 percent efficiency by the Newport Technology & Application Center’s Photovoltaic Lab in Long Beach, Calif., according to the companies, a world record in efficiency for the technology.
That’s not market-ready, but Solarmer spokesman Vishal Shrotriya said it’s getting close.
Conventional silicon solar panels operate at about 20 percent efficiency, he said.
“We aren’t competing in terms of efficiency,” he said. “We’re competing in terms of form, weight.”
The advantage of organic solar cells lies in the fact that they are thin enough to be used as a coating, much like the tinting used to coat car windows, he said.
Shrotriya said the technology should be ready for market when it hits 12 percent efficiency, which he said could happen as soon as next year.
Phillips 66 spokesman Dean Acosta said the company is focused on renewable energy, as well as its core refining operations.
“We have to meet the needs of our country today, but we also have to plan and meet the energy needs of the future,” he said.
