PV Gap

Carla Said:

Is there something that can replace conductive glass?

We Answered:

I think that your problem is that you're looking for a transparent conductor. The problem is that most conductors are high reflectors - they tend to be shiny. I think that you'll struggle to get anything that's relatively cheap.

Folks in our labs use a material called Indium Tin Oxide (ITO) as a coating on glass to allow conduction, but I don't think that that's the sort of stuff you can just buy in a store. You could have a look.

Beverly Said:

how can i create a solar cell? i have tried several pattern but failed?

We Answered:

No problem.

Forming cuprous oxide using your kitchen stove will do the trick, and this link shows you exactly how:

http://scitoys.com/scitoys/scitoys/echem…

Following is a very simple description of why it works.
(My esteemed colleague Bill also answered your question, so this answer is mildly in competition with him, so please award a best answer to one of your responders. ?)

Cuprous oxide exhibits the photoelectric effect. That is, light causes electricity to flow if the circuit is completed.

Cuprous oxide is a type of semiconductor, a material sort of between a conductor, where electricity can flow freely, and an insulator, where electrons are bound tightly to their atoms and do not flow freely.

In a semiconductor, there is a gap, called a bandgap between the electrons that are bound tightly to the atom, and the electrons that are farther from the atom, which can move freely and conduct electricity.

Electrons cannot stay inside the bandgap. An electron cannot gain just a little bit of energy and move away from the atom's nucleus into the bandgap. An electron must gain enough energy to move farther away from the nucleus, outside of the bandgap.

Similarly, an electron outside the bandgap cannot lose a little bit of energy and fall just a little bit closer to the nucleus. It must lose enough energy to fall past the bandgap into the area where electrons are allowed.

When sunlight hits the electrons in the cuprous oxide, some of the electrons gain enough energy from the sunlight to jump past the bandgap and become free to conduct electricity.

Douglas Said:

If glass can be tinted to absorb and reflect certian colors of light, then why can't solar cells be tinted

We Answered:

Short answer of course is that it could be.

However if you had a glass "front" to the silicon that is coloured, you are simply stopping some of the light from reaching the cell.

For example, if you decided to filter out all the red light, then you would lose perhaps most of the IR all of the red and some of the orange/ yellow from the spectrum. This would make the solar cell produce appreciably less electricity.

Any glass covering the cell no only wants to be clear - but also clear to IR too - as this is used by the cell more than most colours.

What was your thinking behind this please, I am curious.

Mark

Caroline Said:

Can I use isopropyl alcohol instead of ethyl alcohol to clean my glass plates for my solar cell?

We Answered:

Yes