Building plastic solar cells

Environmentally friendly solar panels may be an affordable alternative to conventional power sources within the next ten years, as a result of a new project launched this week.

The £5m project to develop inexpensive organic photovoltaic (PV) cells will be led by Cambridge University's Cavendish Laboratory in collaboration with The Technology Partnership, with £5m funding from the Carbon Trust.

Cambridge University and TTP aim to accelerate the commercialisation of organic PV by several years by combining intellectual property, scientific expertise and manufacturing capabilities. A core aim is to create photovoltaic modules with five per cent efficiency and a lifetime of five years that can be manufactured on a roll-to-roll web up to one metre wide.

Once made, these sheets of PV film, made from a polymer base, will be able to sit on a range of surfaces, including windows or building roofs, to capture solar energy. Simpler applications could also include chargers for mobile telephone or laptop computers.