Australian company Dyesol recently announced it had achieved a solid-state Dye Solar Cell (DSC) efficiency of 11.3% at full sun.
While this is still far behind the average silicon solar cell, the technology has evolved in leaps and bounds – in 2010, solid-state DSC performance was at just 5%.
DSC technology is described by the company as “artificial photosynthesis” that uses an electrolyte, a layer of titania and ruthenium dye deposited on glass, metal or polymer substrates.
Dyesol says its technology has
- lower cost and embodied energy in manufacture,
- uses non-toxic materials,
- produces electricity more efficiently in low light conditions,
- can be used indoors and
- be directly incorporated into building materials.
The efficiency of 11.3% was achieved in a laboratory setting, but the company is confident of achieving industrial efficiencies greater than 10% using the solid-state system.
“At this level of module performance the technology will be grid competitive – the “holy grail” for renewable energy technologies,” says a statement from Dyesol.
Chairman Richard Caldwell said the announcement represents a ‘quantum leap’ for Dyesol and its commercialisation partners, and it is now looking to a rapid transition from the laboratory to the production line.
Dyesol established in Australia in 2004. Last year the company won the 2012 Swisselectric Research Award and the 2012 Clean Energy Council Innovation Award.
Last month, the company announced its Dye Solar Cell technology will be integrated with printed batteries and sensor network products being developed by Singapore company, Printed Power Pte Ltd.
DSC technology was invented at the Institute of Physical Chemistry, of the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology by Brian O’Regan and Michael Graetzel. Professor Graetzel received the 2012 Albert Einstein World Award Of Science for his invention and further development of DSC technology.
