What are organic solar panels?

Because organic cells are made using an ink-based application and can exhibit transparentness, they usually result in a flexible solar panel that can be installed in more unique ways than traditional solar panels (such as on walls or as parts of windows).

What are organic photovoltaic cells?

Most organic photovoltaic cells are polymer solar cells. Fig. 2. Organic Photovoltaic manufactured by the company Solarmer. The molecules used in organic solar cells are solution-processable at high throughput and are cheap, resulting in low production costs to fabricate a large volume.

How do organic photovoltaics work?

Organic photovoltaics work the same way solar cells do, by converting sunlight into electricity at an atomic level. The organic solar cells absorb sunlight in the form of photons (a small particle of electromagnetic energy). The photons knock electrons free from atoms, and their movement creates an electrical current.

What are the advantages of organic photovoltaic cells?

The advantages of organic photovoltaic cells is that they are lightweight, flexible, and semi-transparent. This means they have a wide breadth of applications, from extremely flexible solar panels, to solar windows or glass. They also don’t cost as much to manufacture as traditional solar panels.

How much do organic solar panels cost?

It will be a few years yet before organic solar cells become widely available. How much will organic photovoltaics cost? Organic photovoltaic panels cost somewhere between £40 and £150 per square metre. However, it’s very hard to be certain of this range, since mass production is in its very early stages.

Can organic solar cells be used for solar panels?

Organic solar cells are an exciting and promising technology that, down the line, will increase the types of spaces available for solar generation. For now, they are still being tested and researched and therefore are not available to purchase for solar panel installation.