{"page":"\u003clink rel=\"stylesheet\" href=\"https://lessonplanet.com/assets/packs/css/resources-c03aa079.css\" /\u003e\n\u003clink rel=\"stylesheet\" href=\"https://lessonplanet.com/assets/packs/css/lp_boclips_stylesheets-517835be.css\" media=\"all\" /\u003e\n\u003cdiv data-title='Using nanomaterials to make solar panels more efficient' data-url='/boclips/videos/5c54c09bd8eafeecae14c02a' data-video-url='/boclips/videos/5c54c09bd8eafeecae14c02a' id='bo_player_modal'\u003e\n\u003cdiv class='boclips-resource-page modal-dialog panel-container'\u003e\n\u003cdiv class='react-notifications-root'\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv class='rp-header'\u003e\n\u003cdiv class='rp-type'\u003e\n\u003ci aria-hidden='true' class='fai fa-regular fa-circle-play'\u003e\u003c/i\u003e\nVideo\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003ch1 class='rp-title' id='video-title'\u003e\nUsing nanomaterials to make solar panels more efficient\n\u003c/h1\u003e\n\u003cdiv class='rp-actions'\u003e\n\u003cdiv class='mr-1'\u003e\n\u003ca class=\"btn btn-success\" data-posthog-event=\"Signup: LP Signup Activity\" data-posthog-location=\"body_link_boclips\" data-remote=\"true\" href=\"/subscription/new\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\u003cspan\u003eGet Free Access\u003c/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"\"\u003e for 10 Days\u003c/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e!\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv class='rp-body'\u003e\n\u003cdiv class='rp-info'\u003e\n\u003cdiv aria-label='Hide resource details' class='rp-hide-info' role='button' tabindex='0'\u003e\u0026times;\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003ci aria-label='Expand resource details' class='rp-expand-info fai fa-solid fa-up-right-and-down-left-from-center' role='button' tabindex='0'\u003e\u003c/i\u003e\n\u003ci aria-label='Compress resource details' class='rp-compress-info fai fa-solid fa-down-left-and-up-right-to-center' role='button' tabindex='0'\u003e\u003c/i\u003e\n\u003cdiv class='rp-rating'\u003e\n\u003cspan class='resource-pool'\u003e\n\u003cspan class='pool-label'\u003ePublisher:\u003c/span\u003e\n\u003cspan class='pool-name'\u003e\n\u003cspan class='text'\u003e\u003ca data-publisher-id=\"30356011\" href=\"/search?publisher_ids%5B%5D=30356011\"\u003eCurated Video\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\n\u003c/span\u003e\n\u003c/span\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv class='rp-description'\u003e\n\u003cspan class='short-description'\u003eAP Television Boston, Nov. 5, 20101. General shots Boston skyline2. Various solar panels on roof of MIT library3. Wide shot entrance to MIT Building 66AP Television Boston, Nov. 3, 20104. Zoom in sign for MIT Institute for Soldier...\u003c/span\u003e\n\u003cspan class='full-description hide'\u003eAP Television \u003cbr/\u003eBoston, Nov. 5, 2010\u003cbr/\u003e1. General shots Boston skyline\u003cbr/\u003e2. Various solar panels on roof of MIT library\u003cbr/\u003e3. Wide shot entrance to MIT Building 66\u003cbr/\u003eAP Television \u003cbr/\u003eBoston, Nov. 3, 2010\u003cbr/\u003e4. Zoom in sign for MIT Institute for Soldier Nanotechnologies\u003cbr/\u003e5. Michael Strano draws demonstration of solar funnel concept\u003cbr/\u003e6. Close shot Michael Strano drawing\u003cbr/\u003e7. SOUNDBITE (English) Michael Strano, Associate Professor of Chemical Engineering at MIT:\u003cbr/\u003e\"So the solar funnel operates the same way you would think a regular funnel would work if you were to bring it outside in the rain. In fact, that's a very good analogy. You know if you think of rain droplets like photons, you know, small packets of light, what the funnel actually does is it concentrates these photons down in space and concentrates them down to a small spot. And if you have a photovoltaic or a photo detector there, then you can greatly enhance the performance of this device.\"\u003cbr/\u003e8. Pan right Postdoctoral associate Jae-Hee Han takes down bottle of carbon nanotubes\u003cbr/\u003e9. Close shot bottle of carbon nanotubes\u003cbr/\u003e10. Extreme close shot bottle of carbon nanotubes\u003cbr/\u003e11. Han drips carbon nanotube solution into container\u003cbr/\u003e12. Han prepares filament to dip into carbon nanotubes\u003cbr/\u003e13. Close shot filament, Han applies current\u003cbr/\u003e14. Machine dips filament into carbon nanotube solution\u003cbr/\u003e15. Han walking into lab\u003cbr/\u003e16. SOUNDBITE (English) Jae-Hee Han, Postdoctoral Associate, Strano Research Group:\u003cbr/\u003e\"By using this laser we can see the fluorescence coming from this fibre.\"\u003cbr/\u003e17. Close shot microscope\u003cbr/\u003e18. Extreme close shot fibre under microscope\u003cbr/\u003e19. Geraldine Paulus walking through lab\u003cbr/\u003e20. SOUNDBITE (English) Geraldine Paulus, graduate student, Strano Research Group:\u003cbr/\u003e\"The sunlight excites the nanotubes that are in the outer layer of the fibre, and because of the different properties that make up the nanotubes in the different layers, the light is being funnelled to the core of our construction, of the fibre. That's where it is emitted at a wavelength that is specific to the nanotubes in the core of the fibre. So basically we've spatially and energetically focused the light.\"\u003cbr/\u003e21. Group shot Paulus and Han\u003cbr/\u003e22. SOUNDBITE (English) Geraldine Paulus, graduate student, Strano\u003cbr/\u003eResearch Group:\u003cbr/\u003e\"So once we noted that the fibre fluoresced and that it gave light as you see here on this image, we analysed the wavelengths of this light and the intensities with the computer and compiled all the data in the plot that you see here.\"\u003cbr/\u003e23. Close shot computer screen with data plot\u003cbr/\u003e24. SOUNDBITE (English) Geraldine Paulus, graduate student, Strano Research Group:\u003cbr/\u003e\"When the light travels, when the energy travels from one type of nanotube to the other type of nanotube, it loses a bit of its energy.\u003cbr/\u003eThis bit of energy is determined by the difference in bandgap between the two types of nanotubes. If you choose two types of nanotubes which have a bandgap that is pretty much the same but one is a little lower than the other, then the energy lost in the transition will be mimimalised. So we could improve our invention by choosing two types of nanotubes that are more closely related, propertywise.\"\u003cbr/\u003e25. Various setups Michael Strano at desk\u003cbr/\u003e26. SOUNDBITE (English) Michael Strano, Associate Professor of Chemical Engineering at MIT:\u003cbr/\u003e\"Instead of having the entire roof be covered with say a brittle piece of silicon photovoltaic, you could then start to think about having a much smaller array of devices maybe embedded into plastic and then using a solar concentrator to make up for the decrease in area that you'll find. So this tool can help engineers to make more robust photovoltaic technology.\"\u003cbr/\u003e27. Close shot solar battery charger\u003cbr/\u003e28. Extreme close shot solar battery charger\u003cbr/\u003e29. SOUNDBITE (English) Michael Strano, Associate Professor of Chemical Engineering at MIT:\u003cbr/\u003e\"So a final product in the marketplace may look like instead of the flat, shiny panels that you're used to seeing on top of the roof or in a solar array, you may see a material that looks somewhat rougher, but has, if you looked under a microscope, you would see small antenna structures on top of these electronic devices. And this, if you calculate correctly, this device could have comparable or even better efficiencies than some of the materials that we have today.\"\u003cbr/\u003eAP Television \u003cbr/\u003eBoston, Nov. 5, 2010\u003cbr/\u003e30. Various solar panels on roof of MIT library\u003cbr/\u003eThe race is on to make solar energy more efficient, and one potential solution is emerging from a lab at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Boston. \u003cbr/\u003eBy using nanomaterials, they are able to extract more energy from a smaller surface area exposed to the sun.\u003cbr/\u003eSolar energy is full of potential, but one limitation for urban photovoltaic arrays is the need for large expanses of panels to collect the energy of the sun.\u003cbr/\u003eMIT professor Professor Michael Strano and his team of researchers have come up with a method of concentrating light at 100 times the rate of traditional photovoltaic methods. This could lead to a new kind of solar panel that is both smaller and more powerful.\u003cbr/\u003e\"So the solar funnel operates the same way you would think a regular funnel would work if you were to bring it outside in the rain. In fact, that's a very good analogy. You know if you think of rain droplets like photons, you know, small packets of light, what the funnel actually does is it concentrates these photons down in space and concentrates them down to a small spot. And if you have a photovoltaic or a photo detector there, then you can greatly enhance the performance of this device,\" he says. \u003cbr/\u003eSimilar to a funnel that you would see at home, their \"solar funnel\" concept concentrates energy found over a larger area and concentrates it into a smaller area.\u003cbr/\u003ePostdoctoral Associate Jae-Hee Han shows how a small metal fibre is coated with a carbon nanotube solution for a lab test.\u003cbr/\u003eSolar panels convert photons, or packets of light energy, into electrical current. Using nanomaterials, Strano's team discovered a way of increasing the number of photons that could be captured and converted into energy.\u003cbr/\u003eStrano's group often works with carbon nanotubes and nanowires and is always looking for new ways to use them. \u003cbr/\u003eWhen the carbon nanotubes are arranged into microscopic fibres, they can serve as tiny antennas. The technology is still in development, but the group hopes to be able to coat solar panels with these microscopic structures to boost efficiency.\u003cbr/\u003eGraduate student, Geraldine Paulus, explains how the light is concentrated at the centre of a test fibre in the lab.\u003cbr/\u003e\"The sunlight excites the nanotubes that are in the outer layer of the fibre, and because of the different properties that make up the nanotubes in the different layers, the light is being funnelled to the core of our construction, of the fibre. That's where it is emitted at a wavelength that is specific to the nanotubes in the core of the fibre. So basically we've spatially and energetically focused the light,\" she says. \u003cbr/\u003ePaulus and Han were the lead authors of the group's paper in the Sept. 12 online edition of the journal Nature Materials. \u003cbr/\u003eFunding for their work came from the National Science Foundation, an MIT Sloan Fellowship, the MIT-Dupont alliance and the Korea Research Foundation.\u003cbr/\u003eThe group's invention uses the concept of bandgap. \u003cbr/\u003eBandgap is the difference between an electron's energy level in resting and excited states. \u003cbr/\u003eWhen a photon hits an electron, it jumps to a higher energy state. Energy flows from higher to lower bandgap materials. Strano's team exploits the energy flow from higher to lower bandgap materials to funnel the energy.\u003cbr/\u003eThe description in the recent Nature Materials paper describes losses of about 13 percent, but the team is hoping to develop new antennas that reduce energy losses to one percent. \u003cbr/\u003eThe invention could become more efficient by finding types of nanotubes with closer bandgap differences to minimise the loss of energy as the photons travel from one type of material to the other, says graduate student Geraldine Paulus.\u003cbr/\u003e\"When the light travels, when the energy travels from one type of nanotube to the other type of nanotube, it loses a bit of its energy. This bit of energy is determined by the difference in bandgap between the two types of nanotubes. If you choose two types of nanotubes which have a bandgap that is pretty much the same but one is a little lower than the other, then the energy lost in the transition will be minimalised. So we could improve our invention by choosing two types of nanotubes that are more closely related, propertywise.\"\u003cbr/\u003eThis type of technology could change the way people approach coating a roof with solar cells or making photovoltaic panels by allowing them to use smaller devices to capture the same amount of energy.\u003cbr/\u003e\"Instead of having the entire roof be covered with say a brittle piece of silicon photovoltaic, you could then start to think about having a much smaller array of devices maybe embedded into plastic and then using a solar concentrator to make up for the decrease in area that you'll find. So this tool can help engineers to make more robust photovoltaic technology,\" says Strano. \u003cbr/\u003eStrano's group hasn't yet constructed a photovoltaic device using their new method, but the professor envisions an addition to existing solar panels resembling a thin layer of nanotube antennas on the surface of a panel. This could lead to far more efficient and productive panels, he says.\u003cbr/\u003e\"So a final product in the marketplace may look like instead of the flat, shiny panels that you're used to seeing on top of the roof or in a solar array, you may see a material that looks somewhat rougher, but has, if you looked under a microscope, you would see small antenna structures on top of these electronic devices. And this, if you calculate correctly, this device could have comparable or even better efficiencies than some of the materials that we have today.\"\u003cbr/\u003eMany solar arrays function well today, like these panels atop MIT's library, but inventions like Strano's could give them an efficiency boost. \u003cbr/\u003eSoon, it may not be necessary to have a large amount of roof space to house solar panels, as solar devices take on newer and more innovative forms.\u003cbr/\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv class='action-container flex justify-between'\u003e\n\u003cbutton aria-expanded='false' aria-label='Read more description' class='rp-full-description' type='button'\u003e\n\u003ci class='fai fa-solid fa-align-left'\u003e\u003c/i\u003e\n\u003cspan id='read_more'\u003eRead More\u003c/span\u003e\n\u003c/button\u003e\n\u003cdiv class='rp-report'\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv aria-labelledby='resource-details-heading' 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