Princeton researchers have found a simple and economical way to nearly triple the efficiency of organic solar cells, the cheap and flexible plastic devices that many scientists believe could be the future of solar power.
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Power-in-a-Box (TM) is an easily deployable standard shipping container outfitted with solar panels and a telescoping wind turbine for generating electricity in remote or disaster-torn regions.
By producing plastics that are translucent, malleable and able to conduct electricity, researchers have opened the door to broader use of the materials in a wide range of electrical devices.
Solar panels that are slated to be installed this fall on the roof of Princeton's Engineering Quadrangle will shave only about $60 off the University's monthly electricity bill. But the technology that emerges from this unique industry-academia research collaboration may eventually save New Jersey households millions of dollars in energy costs.
