Electric power and hydrogen fuel generation from sunlight

I&EC 30

Michael Graetzel, michael.graetzel@epfl.ch, Department of Chemistry, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne, Laboratoire de Photonique et Interfaces, Station 6, Lausanne, CH 1015, Switzerland and Kevin Sivula, Department of Chemistry and Department of Chemical Engineering, University of California Berkeley, Berkeley, CA 94720.
The development of tools to control materials on the nanometer length scale has catalyzed the development of a new class of solar energy conversion devices. The prototype of this new family of devices is the dye-sensitized solar cell (DSC). These devices operate in an entirely different fashion than conventional silicon p-n junction devices as they achieve the separation of light harvesting and charge carrier transport. Continued research with DSC has resulted in devices with power conversion efficiencies over 11 percent and excellent stability. Nanostructured systems also show great promise for the generation of hydrogen from sunlight. Silicon doped alpha-Fe2O3 films are shown capable of an overall solar to chemical conversion efficiency of 4.2 percent in a tandem device using a DSC as a bottom electrode. These new technologies are both viable contenders for large-scale future solar energy conversion systems on the bases of cost, efficiency, stability, availability and environmental compatibility.
 

NanoPower: Creating Energy for the Future
1:30 PM-5:20 PM, Sunday, April 6, 2008 Morial Convention Center -- Rm. 231/232, Oral

Division of Industrial & Engineering Chemistry

The 235th ACS National Meeting, New Orleans, LA, April 6-10, 2008