Solar Cell Introduction
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Organic Photovoltaics
An organic solar cell is an electricity-generating device comprised of thin layers of conductors, and photoelectrically active organic compounds. This section is based on lectures presented by Professor Jean Luc Bredas at Georgia Tech in 2007, and by materials contributed from several other technical sources, including Department of Energy workshops on Solar Electric energy conversion.
We will look at the major processes in solar cells and overview of the organic solar solar cell.
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Energy Consumption
There are serious issues inherent with the energy needs of this country. Even during slow economic growth we continue to use an ever-increasing amount of energy, and our energy consumption world-wide is projected to more than double by the middle of this century. Organic photovoltaic devices are an important emerging technology, part of a broad spectrum of "Generation III" photovoltaics, which promise to provide solar-to-electric energy conversion in portable, light-weight packages, at extremely low cost.
External Links
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Energy_in_the_United_States
An informative lecture by Dr. Nate Lewis from CalTech who provides some perspective on energy consumption and alternative energy conversion technologies on the horizon: http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/events/lectures/feb08.cfm
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