A team at Notre Dame University’s Center for Nano Science and Technology (NDnano) in Indiana — headed by Prof Prashant Kamat — devised a technique for creating the solar paint.
‘By incorporating power-producing nanoparticles, called quantum dots, into a spreadable compound, we’ve made a one-coat solar paint that can be applied to any conductive surface without special equipment,’ said Kamat.
The method involved nano-sized particles of titanium dioxide, which were coated with either cadmium sulphide or cadmium selenide. The particles were then suspended in a water-alcohol mixture to create a paste.
When the paste was brushed onto a transparent conducting material and exposed to light, it created electricity with an efficiency of one per cent — some distance behind the typical 10–15 per cent efficiency of commercial silicon solar cells.
Neverthless, Kamat said: ‘This paint can be made cheaply and in large quantities. If we can improve the efficiency somewhat, we may be able to make a real difference in meeting energy needs in the future.’
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Where will all the raw materials come from for the manufacturing process? How will they be transported to the factory and what is going to be done with the various scrap and residues?