Pin It

Phoenix Solar: Organic Vs Inorganic Solar Cells, Which Are Greener?

localwork | Oct 27, 2010 |

0 Comments | Rating: 0

Efficiency, effectiveness, and sustainability--these are three key things that people have become much more conscious of over the last decade. Phoenix solar experts state that creating green and solar technologies that generate renewable energy is only one part of the job for scientists and researchers. Solar energy authorities say the other part of the job is to make the products themselves as environmentally friendly as possible.

Greener Solar Cells?
To that end, Arizona solar energy experts believe that there must be a focus on developing solar technologies composed of organic materials that are easy to fabricate and produce on a mass scale using little energy. There are a number of researchers currently in the process of doing this. As a matter of fact, for over a decade scientists and researchers have been working on trying to create effective electricity-yielding organic solar cells.

Inorganic (Silicon) Vs. Organic Solar Cells
According to Phoenix solar officials, most photovoltaic systems--or solar panels--use silicon solar panels. Silicon has been an effective material in conducting solar energy and converting it into electricity. However, it takes a lot of energy to manufacture silicon solar cells. Silicon is also a more expensive material to work with than the materials used in organic solar panels.

Phoenix solar experts state that organic solar cells are composed of carbon compounds--commonly known as plastics. They are therefore lighter in weight and more flexible than silicon solar panels. They can also be easily applied to a number of different materials. More significantly, the most important aspect about organic solar cells is that recent studies show that they are actually greener than silicon solar cells. This is primarily because they require much less energy to create.

Could Produce Cheaper Solar Panels
Since organic solar cells take much less energy to create, it means that any future solar panels that use the cells would be less expensive. Phoenix solar experts state that since the cells would cost less to make--since they require less energy to manufacture--they would therefore be more affordable. The materials used to create organic solar cells are also easier to collect and fabricate.

Issues With Organic Solar Cells
While these cells may be more green than silicon solar cells, they currently do not produce as much electricity as silicon cells. They only produce about a fifth of the electricity that silicon solar cells produce. The rest of the energy is lost for reasons that were a bit of a mystery until recently; there have been some current findings that have pinpointed why this is occuring. Phoenix solar experts believe that once the kinks have been worked out, organic solar cells will make a huge impact in the solar energy industry.