Solar energy is perhaps the most elegant solution to our energy needs. The sun provides our planet’s surface with more than enough energy to keep us going forever. The Earth receives over 170 000 terawatts of energy every year, which is nearly 10 000 times what the human population needs per year. Apart from being an inexhaustible renewable energy source, solar energy is a “greener alternative“ to convention fossil fuels as it can be harnessed without emitting harmful pollutants into the environment.

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I.Solar Cells

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As elegant as the solution may seem, the challenge has always been collecting solar energy. Solar energy is harnessed through the technology of photovoltaic (PV) cells. PV cells are constructed with suitable materials that when exposed to light, photons from the light are absorbed by semiconducting material causing the excitation of an electron from its ground state to a higher energy state. The construction of solar cells allows for the electrons to travel in one direction through an external circuit.

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Even though most people are aware of photovoltaic cells, solar panels are expensive. Even in 2018, commercially available solar panels display low efficiency, so the high costs per square inch of these panels make solar power economically non-viable.

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It is here, that the Sus-WEB research group finds its niche. Our research group  is invested in developing new materials and systems to improve the efficiency and construction of PV cells. Alot of focus is placed on incorporating materials such as perovskites, phthalocyanines and cellulose into PV systems for enhanced solar energy conversion efficiencies. The aim is to eventually move towards the fairly recent trend of transparent solar cells. 

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The beauty of transparent solar cells lies in the fact that they can technically be placed anywhere, from the windows of skyscrapers to the windows on your car. The vertical area that a transparent solar cells can potentially cover outweighs the horizontal area that bulkier solar panels require. If the system is designed to be more flexible, an even wider area can be covered. There are of course numerous barriers that challenge the idea of transparent solar cells but the concept of harnessing solar power from solar panels that look like glass or plastic is INCREDIBLE.

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Key articles for further reading:

R. R. Lunt and V. Bulovic, Transparent, near-infrared organic photovoltaic solar cells for window and energy scavenging applications, Appl. Phys. Lett., 2011, 98, 113305.

Q. Lin et al, Flexible photovoltaic technologies, J. Mater. Chem. C, 2014, 2, 1233.

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 II.Artificial Photosynthesis

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Key articles for further reading:

R. S. Dhayal, W. E. van Zyl, C. W. Liu. Polyhydrido Copper Clusters: Synthetic Advances, Structural Diversity and Nanocluster-to-Nanoparticle Conversion.  Acc. Chem. Res., [ASAP] 2016, 49, 86-95.   [Winner of the Y. Z. Hsu Science paper award in Nanoscience & Technology category.]

P. Du, R. Eisenberg. Catalysts made of earth-abundant elements (Co, Ni, Fe) for water splitting: Recent progress and future challenges. Energy Environ. Sci., 2012, 5, 6012.

A. J. Morris et al., Molecular Approaches to the Photocatalytic Reduction of Carbon Dioxide for Solar FuelsAcc. Chem. Res., 2009, 42 (12), pp 1983–1994.

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