Here’s an exciting article by Alicia W. Roberts, Wake Forest University and posted on RenewableEnergyWorld.com website.
Seems Wake Forest University holds the first patent for fiber-based photovoltaic, or solar cells, granted by the European Patent Office in November. A spinoff company called FiberCell Inc. has received the license to develop manufacturing methods for the new solar cell.
And now the scientists at the University’s Center for Nanotechnology and Molecular Materials have used the red dye made from pokeberries to coat their efficient and inexpensive fiber-based solar cells. The dye acts as an absorber, helping the cell’s tiny fibers trap more sunlight to convert into power.
These low cost fiber cells coated with pokeberry dye could be the key to spreading solar power to developing countries across the globe.
2 Comments
fraNKlin
Hmmm…. amazing. An ordinary plant will make somehow a solar power. Unbelievable. Solar power are generated by the heat of the sun and how it comes to be like that..lol..
La Lytle
Impressive. The advances in solar power never cease to amaze me.
I find it amazing that pokeberries – those red-staining small berries that kids love to smash – can produce twice as much solar power as our current flat-cell technology can produce.
I'm often amazed at the power of nature to give us hints at how to advance a technology further. According to the article, pokeberries make great conduits of solar power because they are composed of millions of tiny, plastic “cans” that trap light until most of it is absorbed.
The article further states that since the fibers create much more surface area, the fiber solar cells can collect light at any angle — from the time the sun rises until it sets. Simply amazing!
Thanks for sharing!