Solar Gain

The sun’s golden rays are getting an assist from nano-sized particles of gold in a research project on solar cells

Two Carolina chemistry professors are developing special nanoparticles that could improve the light-gathering and electricity-generating efficiency of hybrid organic/inorganic solar cells.

Cathy Murphy and Richard Adams are part of only 27 research teams funded across the country by the Department of Energy from among more than 600 proposals on solar energy research.

“Solar cells still are not cost effective for large-scale use,” Adams said. “But if they were more efficient, large-scale applications would make more sense. There is a lot of solar energy, but it is fairly dilute—that’s why we need to improve the efficiency of solar cells.”

Murphy is developing silver and gold nano particles—shaped like tiny rods—that improve the absorption of visible light and amplify its effects. “You can tune the wavelength of light absorbed by changing the size of the nanorods,” Murphy said. “A single layer of these silver or gold nanorods in the solar cell is all that’s needed to get the improvement.”

“I think we have a good chance of making some improvements to the existing technology for solar cells,” Adams said. “If we can help improve their efficiency, we’ll have made a worthwhile contribution.”

Carolina plans to recruit more scientists interested in photovoltaic research. And to get students interested early on the topic, the College of Engineering and Computing offered a course on photovoltaics during the winter interim session at the Governor’s School for Science and Mathematics, a special high school for gifted students in Hartsville, S.C.