New Record for “Recycling Indoor Light to Electricity”

April 10th, 2012 by Zachary Shahan

UK cleantech startup G24 Innovations (G24i) has reportedly set a new world record for “the recycling of ambient indoor light to electricity” using dye-sensitized solar cells.

Previously, Texas Instruments’ Solar Lab verified a G24i efficiency record of 15% for its light-energy-harvesting technology. Now, however, with a new cell composition, G24i claims that it has hit a much higher efficiency of 26%.

“The breakthrough, which rates G24i’s new PV cell as almost five times more powerful than its nearest commercial competitor, is based on recent work by Professor Michael Graetzel and colleagues at the Laboratory of Photonics and Interfaces, Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne,” a news release states.

“Professor Graetzel’s dye-sensitised cell invention is recognised as coming close to mimicking the light reaction in nature’s photosynthesis.”

“This efficiency achievement is impressive”, commented Professor Graetzel, recipient of the 2012 Albert Einstein World Award of Science and the 2010 Millennium Technology Prize for inventing dye-sensitized cells.

G24i Dye Sensitized Cells in Use Today

Think this technology is still just in the lab? Think again. The unique solar PV cells are currently being used in place of batteries in various products, such as “shade and blind systems for one of the largest hotels in Las Vegas” and “computer peripherals products such as wireless keyboards.” However, this big efficiency boost will certainly open up more markets and make the technology attractive to more and more companies. For example, it is hoped this sort of technology could eventually be used for powering ones iPhone, iPod, etc.

“The global market for disposable batteries is worth in the region of $80bn a year. The potential to increase the volume of sales for our technology is immense,” Richard Costello, Chief Operating Officer of G24i, said.

With standby or phantom power accounting for a lot of our electricity usage (8% in the UK), this product clearly can have a big green impact.

Ultimately, the hope is that G24i can get the technology’s efficiency up to 40%, what is considered to be the maximum efficiency feasible with this sort of light source.

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Tags: dye-sensitized cells, dye-sensitized solar cells, G24 Innovations, G24i, light energy harvesting, light harvesting, recycling indoor light, Solar Cell Efficiency, solar pv efficiency, UK, uk solar energy

About the Author

Zachary Shahan spends most of his time here on CleanTechnica as the director/chief editor. Otherwise, he's probably enthusiastically fulfilling his duties as the director/editor of Solar Love, EV Obsession, Planetsave, or Bikocity. Zach is recognized globally as a solar energy, electric car, and wind energy expert. If you would like him to speak at a related conference or event, connect with him via social media. You can connect with Zach on any popular social networking site you like. Links to all of his main social media profiles are on ZacharyShahan.com.