Pioneering companies in this space include Nanosys
Post# of 22454
Quantum Materials, which prints the dots on film, and
QD Vision, whose technology routes light from blue LEDs through tubes filled with red and green quantum dots to create pure
white light.
http://global.ofweek.com/news/Top-10-trends-i...lays-29615 ...(from Hawk)
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Quantum dots spray LCD screens with more vibrant colours
http://www.eetasia.com/ART_8800702575_480700_NT_d353a8bc.HTM
Quantum dots have potential applications beyond the TVs demonstrated recently at CES
TV makers, worried about the cost of making large screen sets using organic light emitting diodes (OLEDs) believe the quantum dot
can get them close to the colour saturation of the slightly older technology at a fraction of the price. Although the best way to
use quantum dots with LCDs in TVs would be to spray them across the entire screen, the colour saturation the elements can provide
is good enough that they can be used more sparingly in the backlight elements – with monochrome LCDs used to filter the light into
a convincing colour image.
http://www.newelectronics.co.uk/electronics-t...tAqte.dpuf
Quantum dot breakthrough could lead to cheap spray-on solar cells
http://www.gizmag.com/quantum-dot-solar-cells/32478/
Team Researches Flexible, Spray-On Solar Cells
IBM $210-million collaboration/Ted Sargent group/ Illan Kramer (IBM)
https://www.asce.org/magazine/20141223-team-r...lar-cells/
Thin Films Solar Cells on Flexible Substrates
Thin film silicon solar cells are classified into p-i-n and n-i-p configurations which refer to their deposition sequence; n-i-p processing starts with the n-layer which is normally grown on a metallic back contact. Historically this configuration is connected to flexible substrates because it was used on opaque substrates or poorly transparent substrates like steel foils or high temperature polymers. However, the configuration is not limited to this choice, it is in fact compatible with any kind of substrates, such as rigid or flexible, transparent or opaque. Nevertheless, flexible substrates have remained the main application of n-i-p cells because roll-to-roll processing makes them very interesting to reduce the production costs as well as the energy payback time, particularly when low cost substrates like poly-ethylene are used.
We obtained fully flexible solar cells on a low cost poly-ethylene substrate with a stabilized efficiency of 9.8% for 0.25cm2 laboratory cells
We first fabricated this type of substrate as shown in the figure above and experimentally studied them in single-junction, thick µc-Si:H solar cells [Söderström Solmat 2012]. In second we have been able to fully exploit the potential of these substrates to lead to high efficiency solar cells by growing triple-junctions a-Si:H/µc-Si:H/µc-Si:H in nip configuration. This solar cell exhibits efficiencies of 13.7% in the initial state and 12.5% after degradation as shown in the below. The efficiency after degradation is among the highest reported to this date for purely silicon based n-i-p thin film solar cells
http://pvlab.epfl.ch/thin_film_on_flexible_substrates
....older established
Best Thin Film Solar Panels – Amorphous, Cadmium Telluride or CIGS?
http://energyinformative.org/best-thin-film-s...ride-cigs/
....the future of Amorphous silicon (a-Si) may be in doubt
...a little about perovskite
A better method for making perovskite solar cells
Faster, cooler, thinner, better
Perovskite solar cells could be a cheap, efficient alternative to silicon-based solar cells. A new technique can potentially mass-produce thinner perovskite films at room temperature without sacrificing quality. Thin-film perovskite solar cells could be used for colorful windows that can generate electricity.
https://news.brown.edu/articles/2015/03/perovskite
Graphene/nanotube hybrid benefits flexible solar cells
Tests found that solar cells made from the longest nanotubes produced the best results and topped out at nearly 18 milliamps of current per square centimeter, compared with nearly 14 milliamps for platinum-based control cells. The new dye-sensitized solar cells were as much as 20 percent better at converting sunlight into power, with an efficiency of up to 8.2 percent, compared with 6.8 for the platinum-based cells. Based on recent work on flexible, graphene-based anode materials by the Lou and Tour labs and synthesized high-performance dyes by other researchers, Lou expects dye-sensitized cells to find many uses. “We’re demonstrating all these carbon nanostructures can be used in real applications,” he said.
http://news.rice.edu/2014/11/17/graphenenanot...wJNUO.dpuf
......just browsing and wondering about flexible applications and which method will end up being top dog in solar. I favor the spray on, but time will tell.
Looking Forward