UK researchers simplify low-light solar with paint-on PV

Researchers from Swansea University in Wales say they're developing a new way to capture low-light radiation with photovoltaic cells painted on steel sheets.

The ability to capture low-light radiation is important in Northern Hemisphere climates, such as the UK, because there's less sunlight. The process has the potential to be scaled quickly because it uses processes already in place for steel manufacturing, with commercialization possible in less than three years.

The team from Swansea's engineering school says the PV material could be added using the same process that currently applies paint to steel using rollers during manufacturing. The process could build layers of a solar cell system at a rate of 30 to 40 square meters per minute.

The process is expected to use dye-sensitized solar cells instead of silicon, making the PV less efficient but less expensive than traditional crystalline silicon solar. First, the steel gets a layer of paint, followed by electrolyte and dye layers, then a clear protective film.

Dave Worsley, a researcher in the Materials Research Centre of the engineering school, said the discovery came about because a student was researching how sunlight degrades paint. The group has collaborated with the steel industry for decades to improve durability and reduce corrosion of steel.

"We haven't really paid much attention to how we can make the outside of the steel capable of doing something other than looking good," Wosley told Trade with Britain, a publication of the UK government aimed at improving ties with South African businesses.

The group received a $2.3 million grant from the UK Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council for a three-year project to commercialize the PV materials in conjunction with Bangor University, the University of Bath and Imperial College London.