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Princeton breakthrough offers hope for low-cost solar panels

The Princeton team made a transistor from the material to prove the process

Princeton researchers have come up with a new process to produce electricity conducting plastics they say could “dramatically” lower solar panel costs.

Conductive plastics are nothing new, but the university’s chemical engineers said yesterday that they have overcome the key problem of producing plastics that still conduct after being shaped.

The researchers said the “mysterious” loss of conductivity seen when the plastics are molded is to do with the rigid structure of the plastics.

By treating the plastics with a type of acid after molding it, the conductivity is restored according to the Princeton team.

While the process could offer plastics for use in a range of electrical products, the researchers said in particular it could provide a low-cost alternative to the expensive indium tin oxide (ITO) used as a conductive material in solar panels.

As well as cutting raw material costs, this form of “organic electronics” could mean production is much easier, since components can be “printed” by a system like an ink-jet printer.

“Viable”

Associate professor Yueh-Lin Loo, who led the Princeton team, said: “The cost of indium tin oxide is skyrocketing. To bring down the costs of plastic solar cells, we need to find a replacement for ITO. Our conducting plastics allow sunlight to pass through them, making them a viable alternative.”

Princeton's Yueh-Lin Loo

ITO is an expensive byproduct of mining that has been in demand for flat-screen televisions, mobile phones and other electronics.

It is used in plastic solar modules to collect electricity generated by the cells, but must be transparent in order to allow sunlight through to the cells.

Dr Loo said the material would mean easy mass production for solar cells.

“Being able to essentially paint on electronics is a big deal,” she said. “You could distribute the plastics in cartridges the way printer ink is sold, and you wouldn’t need exotic machines to print the patterns.”

The Princeton research team, which was upported by the National Science Foundation, the WM Keck Foundation and the Arnold and Mabel Beckman Foundation, proved its technique by producing a plastic transistor from the material.