Organic Photovoltaics: An Invisible Solar Energy Revolution in the Making

Image: https://ensia.com/features/organic-solar-cells-energy-power/

Think solar energy. Your mind likely brings up images of fields or roofs dotted with blue rectangles – photovoltaic (PV) solar panels. But what if anything that basks in the sunshine could become an energy magnet? The technology making this possible could soon surround us – and we won’t even see it.

PV panels have been springing up around the world for a while now, but this expansion poses some challenges. Their production requires huge amounts of (often fossil fuel-generated) energy and unsustainably sourced rare metals. Also, after they are decommissioned, high volumes of panel waste expose communities and the environment to the harmful substances found within them. On top of that, PVs are opaque and bulky, which limits where they can be installed.

Meet Organic Photovoltaics (OPVs): the thin, flexible, and transparent up-and-comer ready to shake things up in the solar energy universe. 

The sun emits virtually unlimited energy-rich light: visible light plus ultraviolet (UV) and infrared (IR) light that we don’t see. OPV solar cells are engineered to capture only invisible light; since visible light can pass through, they appear transparent! Behind this incredible feat are organic compounds made up of carbon, one of the most abundant elements on Earth. When OPVs absorb UV and IR light, opposite charges in the solar cell are squished together, creating electrically neutral particles called excitons. These excitons are pulled apart by materials attracting opposite charges within the solar cell, resulting in an electric current. 

OPV solar cells can be thinner than a strand of hair and just 1% the weight of conventional panels, adhere to nearly any material, and are able to generate more power per unit of volume than conventional PVs. OPVs have a substantially lower production-related carbon footprint than conventional panels, so much so that Itaru Osaka, an OPV researcher at Hiroshima University believes the technology “is directly related to carbon neutrality.”

OPVs are not yet near PV panels’ efficiency, but as engineers tinker with different arrangements of organic compounds, their efficiency inches closer to that of conventional PVs. 

However, the true game-changer with OPVs lies in their immense deployment potential to “enable a surface that wasn’t generating power already to generate electricity,” according to Susan Stone, the CEO of Ubiquitous Energy, a company looking to commercialize OPV technology in windows. Engineers from Michigan State University estimate that if installed on the 5-7 billion square meters of glass surface in the US, OPVs could supply 40% of national energy demand. And now with more interest from investors, buildings near you may soon beam with clean energy. Applications in the consumer electronics, automobiles, or agriculture industries, could be next.

OPVs’ flexibility also unlocks applications in non-rigid materials like fabrics. Some scientists envision the technology providing accessible electricity to structures like tents, which could be particularly impactful in remote areas or during disaster relief efforts. 

OPVs’ immense efficiency, application, and deployment potential continues to push the boundaries of how capturing every ray of sunshine could create a clearer path toward a sustainable future.


Works Cited

Clifford, Catherine. "Solar window start-up aims to turn skyscrapers into vertical solar farms with investment from major window manufacturer." CNBC, 12 Jan. 2022, www.cnbc.com/2022/01/12/ubiquitous-energy-aims-to-turn-skyscrapers-into-vertical-solar-farms.html.

Lavelle, Marianne. "See-Through Solar Could Turn Windows, Phones Into Power Sources." National Geographic, 5 Aug. 2015, www.nationalgeographic.com/science/article/150805-transparent-solar-could-turn-window-phones-into-power-generators.

"Organic photovoltaics: the path to lightweight, flexible and transparent solar cells." Nature, www.nature.com/articles/d42473-022-00224-9.

Service, Robert F. "Solar Energy Gets Flexible." Science, vol. 378, no. 6620, Nov. 2022, pp. 588-91, www.science.org/doi/epdf/10.1126/science.adf6979.

"Transparent solar technology represents 'wave of the future.'" MSU Today, 23 Oct. 2017, msutoday.msu.edu/news/2017/transparent-solar-technology-represents-wave-of-the-future.

Yee, Amy. "Electronic Marvels Turn Into Dangerous Trash in East Africa." The New York Times, 12 May 2019, www.nytimes.com/2019/05/12/climate/electronic-marvels-turn-into-dangerous-trash-in-east-africa.html.

Zewe, Adam. "Paper-thin solar cell can turn any surface into a power source." MIT News, 9 Dec. 2022, news.mit.edu/2022/ultrathin-solar-cells-1209.

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