UCLA Engineers Design Plastic Alternative to Silicon Solar Cells

The cost of silicon solar cells has been the principal barrier preventing consumers from converting from fossil fuel-based energy to solar energy. The high cost is driven in part by competing demand for high-quality silicon from the computer industry. Now scientists at the University of California Los Angeles have created a new plastic solar cell that can be produced at 10 to 20% of the cost of traditional silicon solar cells. The new plastic solar cells were designed by Prof. Yang Yang (pictured right with a plastic solar cell (left) and a silicon solar cell (right)) and colleagues at the UCLA Henry Samueli School of Engineering and Applied Science. The plastic version, however, has only about 30% of the efficiency of the silicon solar cell. Prof. Yang and his team are now working to improve the efficiency rating.