The Nanyang Technological University (NTU) is exploring the possibility of testbedding a new type of solar cells with Singbridge in Guangzhou Knowledge City in China.
NTU Deputy President and Provost, Professor Freddy Boey, told MediaCorp that NTU also has an offer in China to testbed a new system of dye-sensitised solar cell, at the launch of the S$3 million Centre for Nanostructured Photosystems yesterday.
Also known as Graetzel cells after its Swiss inventor Professor Michael Graetzel - who will be leading the new centre - the solar cell mimics the ability of plants to capture photons of light and turn them into electricity. Graetzel cells use special dyes to capture the energy in light at different wavelengths, like the chlorophyll in plants.
This technology enables Graetzel solar cells to capture weaker sunlight as compared to the conventional silicon solar cells.
The dye-sensitised cell can also be integrated into liquids and gels, allowing the solar cells to be tinted and installed on window panels.
Much work on the cell remains to be done, with the centre now pushing for energy efficiency in dye-sensitised cells to go from the current 13 per cent on a cell level to above 15 per cent, said centre director Subodh Mhaisalkar.
Other challenges include making dye-sensitised solar cells to last 20 years like the conventional silicon solar cells, as well as lowering the cost of manufacturing.
However, Prof Boey noted that the dye-sensitised solar cell research is not NTU’s only thrust in the field of solar energy, which the university has been studying for five years.
The test bedding of two years would be “good to find out how viable the new technology is. Some won’t work, but some will, then we can pursue it further”, he said.
