Finally : cheap DIY selfmade solar cell with common materials !

[Hugo Chavez]

I have a question on the dyes being used.  I'm pretty sure these dyes have very poor lightfastness.  They fade fast in light, especially uv exposure.  So are these cells going to have as short of a lifespan as the dye used?


Here's a pdf with good description and instructions.
http://www.camse.org/scienceonthemove/documents/DSSC_manual.pdf

[jadaro2600]

There must be a lack of interest from day one. How can it be, that we get as far as we have with technology, and most scientists an especially the world leaders, have completely ignored that big ball of energy all these years ?

People tend to ignore that which is right in front of them - it's hypnotic desensitization and it's hard as hell to snap out of it if not impossible.  Sometimes I think people are just afraid to think - I fear even I may be victim of such a fear sometimes.

[capthook]

The problem with any home-made solar cells is efficiency.

Most of the ideas floating around the internet would require an array larger than a football field.

Example 1: 1 cell: .2V @ 1mA = 0.0002 watts (500,0000 cells to get 100 watts)
Example 2: 1 cell: .4V @ 4mA = 0.0016 watts (62,500 cells to get 100 watts)

Even the 'new fangled printed' cells from companies like NanoSolar exhibit much lower efficiencies than the traditional silicion cells (~5% vs. ~16%).  But at least the dramatically lower cost of fabrication ends up making them more cost effective, even though it requires an installed area more than 3x larger.

To make homemade cells that exhibit say 5% efficiency would be worthwhile.
But to make 500,000 cells to get a tiny 100 watts is not practical.

Anyone know how to make a homemade cell of 5% efficiency? 

I built a nice little panel this Sunday with some small cells 16+ volts output...

Looks like 36 cells @ 16 V = 0.44 V per cell.......
What is the full output?  How much current, how many watts?
Thanks for the pic and nice job!

[Doug1]

 If you people put half as much work into the home made cells as you do into the nutter projects you could have ended up with a big JT run off the sun and a modest amount of storage batteries. Something tangible that could be cutting down on personal electric bills or supplying extra heat. Almost certainly enough energy to operate a 1/8 th hp pump to move water through a geothermal heat pump system given some of the motor concepts that use so little power with the BEMF methods.
  Granted not everyone has the same needs but forward movement which has tangible benefits will become contagious and the momentum toward usable experimental designs or thoughts will drag the other ideas along the same path. To produce usable tangible improvements. Don't get me wrong I come here every day and it is almost always entertaining.It is surely helping to stretch my imagination,but at some point this is either purely entertainment or of some type of use that can improve the human condition.
   The dyes for a printed cell from fruits is not UV stable but there are additives that can change that. More important is "what is it about the dyes that makes them work" and what ells will work that is better then dyes and already stable and readily available? Can all these materials be printed onto a T shirt transfer and then ironed onto a piece of carbon copy paper or sheet of plastic? If a person could produce usable power with a pay back in under two yrs more people would be willing to give it a try on a working scale rather then a bench top toy.

[Doug1]

 This statement is from the file DSSC manual pdf. The cells of this construct are more worthy of experimentation then the crystaline cells for this reason alone.

"Dye-sensitized solar cells are innovative solar cells that scientists are developing. These
cells have a lot of potential because they can be made with low-cost materials and manufactured
at a low cost. Dye-sensitized cells can work effectively in low light, such as cloudy skies, where
traditional cells lose some of their energy. Also, traditional models lose energy to heat. Dyesensitized
solar cells are less susceptible to losing energy to heat."

  Now if you go look up all the classic definitions and uses of the materials you can even stroke your need for the nutter butter science since there are dia-magnetic properties in some of the oxides. Doubt you'll bend time or space or get a visit from Elvis but it seems to lend itself to polarization through some discrete method. Who knows maybe it will even spark a connection in some function of material properties that will warrant a visit from the King.