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Emilio Palomares' group opens a new window for solar energy

A bit of Palomares’ research can be found on the dye-sesitized solar cell (DSC) windows installed in the façade of the EPFL’s Convention Center in Lausanne, Switzerland. The red coulored glass windows are made with RK1, a new purely organic dye patented by CEA (France) that Palomares’ group has studied in collaboration with CEA-INAC, Solaronix (Switzerland), KaïronKem (France) and Solarprint (Ireland) in the scope of the EU project “ADIOS-Ru”. The dye used in Graetzel solar cells leads to a solar to electrical power conversion efficiency of 10.2% under standard conditions (AM 1.5 G, 100 mWcm?2 intensity). This represents one of the best power conversion efficiencies ever reported for a Graetzel solar cell based on a purely organic dye. Moreover, this high efficiency is coupled with outstanding long-term stability as demonstrated by devices based on an ionic liquid electrolyte.

This process has been published on Scientific Reports, an online and open access publication from the publishers of Nature.

A Robust Organic Dye for Dye Sensitized Solar Cells Based on Iodine/Iodide Electrolytes Combining High Efficiency and Outstanding Stability

Damien Joly, Laia Pellejà, Stéphanie Narbey, Frédéric Oswald, Julien Chiron, John N. Clifford, Emilio Palomares & Renaud Demadrille

Scientific Reports 4, Article number: 4033, doi:10.1038/srep04033

The EPFL’s Convention center has 300m2 of dye-sensitized solar cells integrated to its façade and it represents the first application of such technology to a public building.The EPFL’s Convention center will open on April 2014.