SOLAR CELL TEXTILES RAJKUMAR. R. SHINKAR VIBHAV. H. BHIDE
WHY SOLAR ENERGY ? Inexhaustible source of
energy.Cost free resource.Eco friendly.Purest form of power.Replacement option for
the fossil fuels in near future.Available on every part of
earth.
WHY SOLAR CELL TEXTILES?• Manufacturing of flexible
solar cells possible.• Properties of textile and
working principle of solar cell together.
• EAT (electricity any time).• Infinite scope of applications.• Overcome the drawbacks of
huge and costly solar panels.• Easily adaptable.
Fig. Solar cell textiles
TYPES OF SOLAR CELL TEXTILES1. Using Photovoltaic Technology (Inorganic
Semiconductors).2. Using Organic Photovoltaic Technology (Organic
Semi-Conductors).
Fig. Flexible organic solar cell Fig. Embedded inorganic solar cells
INORGANIC PHOTOVOLTAIC TEXTILES• High efficiency compared to
organic cells.• Integration of these solar cells
into apparels and fabrics.• Low maintenance costs.• Traditional inorganic solar
cells are rigid and therefore embedded into textiles.
• Flexible inorganic solar cells are expensive than organic solar cells.
Fig. An example of patterned polymer solar cells incorporated into clothing by sewing through the polymer solar cell foil using an ordinary sewing machine.
ORGANIC PHOTOVOLTAIC TEXTILES• Fibres are produced and woven in the fabrics.• Though less efficient ideal for practical solar cell fabrics.• Organic photo voltaics have attracted attention due to
the significant progress in cell efficiency by 5%.• Favourable features such as flexibility, lightness, cost-
effectiveness and usage performance
Fig. Schematic diagram of a photovoltaic fibre
CONSTITUENTS of organic solar cells
Rigid substrates, such as glass (For conventional). Flexible Substance like polypropylene fibre (For modern). Transparent conductive bottom electrode eg. Indium Tin
Oxide (ITO). Poly (3,4ethylenedioxythiophene: poly(styrene sulfonic
acid) (PEDOT:PSS). An organic photoactive layer Metal electrode.
Fig. Chemical structure of PEDOT:PSS
MANUFACTURING of organic solar cell fibres• Preparation of substrate(polypropylene
filament) of diameter 0.59mm and length 5cm.
• Cleaning of industrial and environmental contaminants with isopropanol, methanol, distilled water and dried in hydrogen flow .
• Preparation of PEDOT:PSS layer as anode.
Fig. Woven organic solar cellsFig. Schematic diagram of organic solar cell fibre
• Preparation of photoactive materials i.e. combination of P3HT : PCBM or combination of MDMO-PPV : PCBM
CHEMICAL STRUCTURES
(b). P3HT (c). MDMO-PPV
(d). PCBM
• Last layer is a conductive metal electrode. • Metal electrode could be of Aluminium or Lithium
Fluoride.
Fig. Possible industrial Manufacturing
APPLICATIONS1. APPARELS:• Shirts , jackets and trousers with embedded cells are possible.• fabrics could be woven using
organic solar cell fibres.Fig. Charging of a cell phone by a solar fabric
Fig. solar cell woven into fabrics Fig. Strap of fibres
General Applications:• Soldier uniforms and marine fabrics.• Tents for campers and trekkers.• Replacement for solar panels as they are huge
and heavy.• Using lanterns made up of solar fabrics in Diwali
to save electricity.
Fig. military uniforms fig. Solar cell tent
ONGOING DEVELOPMENTS1. Silicon p-i-n fibres (Inorganic photo
voltaics)• Fabricated by HPCVD (High Pressure Chemical
Vapour Deposition) i.e. fabrication of a semiconductor via drawing.
• We can exploit meters long p-i-n junctions it will be necessary to develop long, parallel in-fibre wire electrodes configured to reduce the series resistance.
• By this we can also use inorganic materials to build solar textiles e.g. silicon. Fig. optical micrograph of a representative
Si p-i-n junction
2.Dye synthesized solar cells (DSC) :• Both silica and plastic optical fibres are used as a
Substrate.• Fiber converts light modes propagating in the
modified cladding into electrical signal.• The light here is absorbed by the dye. • Low-cost materials, wide range
Fig. PV optical fiber based on the DSC technique.
of applications and simple manufacturing process make nanostructured dye-sensitizedsolar cells (DSC) a potential alternative to the traditional silicon and thin film PV devices.
3. Photovoltaic textile structure using polyaniline/carbon nanotube composite materials
• CNT’s have unique mechanical, thermal, electrical, electronic, and optical properties, which make them being widely studied as fillers in polymeric composites to improve electrical, mechanical, and physical properties of materials.
• Carbon nanotubes as bottom electrode of organic solar cells which acts as anode.
• Replacement of indium tin oxide (ITO) layer due to it’s high cost, low flexibility and difficult processing.
Fig. calcined TiO2 on CNT
CONCLUSION• The global trend for renewable source of energy is
increasing…• Great scope in the near future due to the wide
and effective application spectrum.• More studies are required to design and perform
for a working photovoltaic fiber.• If brought into practical manufacturing a boon to
the mankind.• Can prove itself by being a great functional aspect
of textiles.
BIBILOGRAPHY1. Solar Cells - New Aspects and Solutions Edited by Prof. Leonid A. Kosyachenko, chapter 9.Progress in Organic Photovoltaic Fibers Research.2. Günes, S., Beugebauer, H., and Sariciftci, N. S., Conjugated Polymer-based Organic Solar Cells, Chem. Rev., 107, 1324–1338 (2007). 3. Brabec, C. J., Dyakonov, V., Parisi, J., and Sariciftci, N. S., “Organic Photovoltaics Concepts and Realization”, 1st edn, Springer, New York, 2003. 4. Berson, S., de Bettignies, R., Bailly, S., and Guillerez S., Poly(3-hexylthiophene) Fibers for Photovoltaic Applications, Adv. Funct. Mater., 17, 1377–1384 (2007). 5. Gonzalez, R., and Pinto, N. J., Electrospun poly(3-hexylthiophene- 2,5-diyl) Fiber Field Effect Transistor, Synthetic Metals, 151, 275–278 (2005). 6. Mattila, H. (eds), “Intelligent Textiles and Clothing”, 1st edn, Wood head Publishing Limited, England, 2006. 7. Schubert, M. B., and Werner, J. H., Flexible Solar Cells for Clothing, Materials Today, 9, 42–50 (2006).
THANK YOU
THE END
ANY
QUESTIONS ?