According to researchers at MIT, developing solar energy technology that focuses on lightweight, thin solar cells has the potential to transform the industry.
These thin solar cells can be produced by stacking sheets of single molecule-thick graphene or molybdenum disulfide.
Why is this important? Because the researchers have demonstrated that it is possible to create solar cells with efficiencies of 1-2% when using a single bilayer of two-dimensional materials.
Compared to conventional solar cells, and the resources, time, and materials that go into making them, the new solar cells have a bright future because they use considerably less material, are a thousand times lighter – lighter than tissue paper, and they take up much less space.
As of now, the two-layer solar cell design is about 1 nanometer thick — hundreds of thousands of times thinner than a conventional silicon solar cell.
This technology can be used anywhere weight is an issue – from the space and aviation industries to the manufacturing sector. To boot, stacking together over two layers might raise the efficiency even more significantly.
These new solar cells have a thousand times more power than traditional photovoltaics.
