Organic solar cells Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Organic solar cells - Essay Example Solar energy is a potential alternative to the production of energy with petroleum. The present solar-cell technology’s energy yield is often not the same and mass-production proves expensive. There is incomplete information of the solar energy production’s total effect on environment. A research team at the Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) carried out one of the first assessments of the life-cycle of organic solar cells in an attempt to develop a better understanding of the detriments and environmental benefits of solar power. The research was directed at the calculation of total use of energy and impact of material collection, production, fabrication, and use of organic solar cells on the environment by means of a detailed assessment of the technology. As a result of this research, it was found that the total amount of energy needed to make a product is more for the conventional inorganic devices in comparison to the organic solar cells. The assistant professor of chemical engineering, Brian Landi, who has served as a faculty advisor in this research project at RIT says, â€Å"This analysis provides a comprehensive assessment of how much energy it takes to manufacture an organic solar cell, which has a significant impact on both the cost and environmental impact of the technology† (Landi cited in Dube). Organic solar cells are considered to be low-cost as well as potentially benign power sources environmentally. The components of organic solar cells that play the role of absorbing light and taking the charge i.e. Ï€-Conjugated (semiconducting) polymers cannot be made in the laboratories in amenable ways to the manufacturing with low impact on the environment. Organic solar cells are lightweight and flexible. Their tendency to provide the cost effective solution processing generates a range of benefits for manufacturing over the technologies of the