Atom thick solar cells make flexible power generation the future

This is about as small as it gets in modern production methods, with researchers at the Vienna University of Technology creating an ‘atomically’ thin solar cell created out of tungsten diselenide.

For the first time a diode has been created from this exotic metal and while researchers are primarily working on it’s uses for solar power generation, the diode could be used in flexible electronics, itself a huge growth market over the next 5 years.

The Vienna University of Technology provides more:

The layer is so thin that 95% of the light just passes through — but a tenth of the remaining five percent, which are absorbed by the material, are converted into electrical power. Therefore, the internal efficiency is quite high. A larger portion of the incident light can be used if several of the ultrathin layers are stacked on top of each other — but sometimes the high transparency can be a useful side effect.

“We are envisioning solar cell layers on glass facades, which let part of the light into the building while at the same time creating electricity,” states researcher Thomas Mueller.

Source: Cleantechnica.com

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