SBIR Phase I: New Biological/Inorganic Nanomaterials for Photovoltaic Cells

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This Small Business Innovation Research Phase I Project will develop a unique combination of biological and inorganic materials for fabrication of nanostructured photovoltaic (PV) or solar cells. Photovoltaic cells offer an attractive low cost and renewable source of energy, which is becoming increasingly competitive to conventional sources as the materials used in their construction become more efficient in converting the solar energy to electricity. Current commercial PV cells use inorganic materials, e.g., silicon, amorphous-silicon, or thin layers of gallium arsenide, indium phosphide and cadmium telluride, the semiconductor materials with bandgap energies very near to optimal values for energy conversion in PV solar cells. Unfortunately their fabrication is complex and they cannot compete with the cost of conventional energy sources. For instance, even thin layers of GaAs and InP used in the solar cells are very expensive and some of them, e.g., CdTe may be environmentally unacceptable because of their toxicity. Recent developments in nanotechnology offer material design control at the nano- and molecular scale allowing the properties of the materials to be orderly controlled, taking advantages of the high surface area of nanostructured materials. The broader impacts from this technology would be a new type of nanostructured photovoltaic panel which would capture solar energy in a more efficient way and that could make this source more cost effective.