The Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI, 工研院) is working on improving production technologies related to dye-sensitized solar cells, hoping to mass produce the low-cost compotent in three to five years, sources at the Hsinchu-based institution said yesterday.
ITRI officials said that although its prototype cells have an energy conversion rate of 6 percent, lower than the optimal 10 percent rate achieved in the laboratory, the efficiency is still good enough for commercial purposes.
ITRI’s prototype dye-sensitized solar cells are being presented to the public at the three-day Taiwan Nano 2008 Exhibition in Taipei.
The sixth Taiwan Nano Exhibition, the second biggest of its kind in Asia, focuses on the latest nano applications in household items, including nano ceramics, nano light-emitting diodes and nanocatalysis.
The first dye-sensitized solar cell was developed in 1991 by two Swiss-based scientists, Michael Graetzel and Brian O’Regan at the Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne.
The cells use titanium dioxide-laced dye material to capture photons. The energy in the particles can then be converted to electrical energy.
Although dye-sensitized solar cells are far less efficient in capturing energy than conventional silicon crystal solar cells, which have conversion rates of 30 percent or more, they still have market potential because of their inexpensive production costs — roughly 80 percent to 90 percent lower than the silicon crystal version.
Dye-sensitized solar cells have yet to be marketed commercially, but ITRI researchers said gains have been made in the development process and two patents related to the process have been obtained in Taiwan, giving the institute confidence that the solar cell can be commercialized by 2011.
“These solar cells, which combine nanocrystal technology and nano thin films, are efficient in converting sunlight into electrical energy,” Tung Yung-liang, an ITRI senior researcher, said on Wednesday.
Within three to five years, the cells could be incorporated into marketable products, Tung said.
Taiwan’s technology protection rules prohibits Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) from producing 2-nanometer chips abroad, so the company must keep its most cutting-edge technology at home, Minister of Economic Affairs J.W. Kuo (郭智輝) said yesterday. Kuo made the remarks in response to concerns that TSMC might be forced to produce advanced 2-nanometer chips at its fabs in Arizona ahead of schedule after former US president Donald Trump was re-elected as the next US president on Tuesday. “Since Taiwan has related regulations to protect its own technologies, TSMC cannot produce 2-nanometer chips overseas currently,” Kuo said at a meeting of the legislature’s
TECH WAR CONTINUES: The suspension of TSMC AI chips and GPUs would be a heavy blow to China’s chip designers and would affect its competitive edge Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the world’s biggest contract chipmaker, is reportedly to halt supply of artificial intelligence (AI) chips and graphics processing units (GPUs) made on 7-nanometer or more advanced process technologies from next week in order to comply with US Department of Commerce rules. TSMC has sent e-mails to its Chinese AI customers, informing them about the suspension starting on Monday, Chinese online news outlet Ijiwei.com (愛集微) reported yesterday. The US Department of Commerce has not formally unveiled further semiconductor measures against China yet. “TSMC does not comment on market rumors. TSMC is a law-abiding company and we are
FLEXIBLE: Taiwan can develop its own ground station equipment, and has highly competitive manufacturers and suppliers with diversified production, the MOEA said The Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA) yesterday disputed reports that suppliers to US-based Space Exploration Technologies Corp (SpaceX) had been asked to move production out of Taiwan. Reuters had reported on Tuesday last week that Elon Musk-owned SpaceX had asked their manufacturers to produce outside of Taiwan given geopolitical risks and that at least one Taiwanese supplier had been pushed to relocate production to Vietnam. SpaceX’s requests place a renewed focus on the contentious relationship Musk has had with Taiwan, especially after he said last year that Taiwan is an “integral part” of China, sparking sharp criticism from Taiwanese authorities. The ministry said
US President Joe Biden’s administration is racing to complete CHIPS and Science Act agreements with companies such as Intel Corp and Samsung Electronics Co, aiming to shore up one of its signature initiatives before US president-elect Donald Trump enters the White House. The US Department of Commerce has allocated more than 90 percent of the US$39 billion in grants under the act, a landmark law enacted in 2022 designed to rebuild the domestic chip industry. However, the agency has only announced one binding agreement so far. The next two months would prove critical for more than 20 companies still in the process
RSS