Nanotechnology Applications for Solar Energy Systems

9 Applications of Nanotechnology in the Harvesting of Solar Energy

Seyede Mohaddese Mousavi¹, Zahra Sayah Alborzi², Saba Raveshiyan³, and Younes Amini^4,*

¹ Department of Textile Engineering, Isfahan University of Technology, Isfahan 8415683111, Iran² Nano Membrane, Tehran Valiasr University of Technical Chemistry, Tehran, Iran³ Department of Chemical Engineering, Tarbiat Modares University, Tehran, Iran⁴ Nuclear Fuel Cycle Research School, Nuclear Science and Technology Research Institute, Tehran, Iran^* Corresponding author

9.1 Introduction

9.1.1 Overview of the Status of the Solar Energy

Nearly 50 years have passed since Nobel Prize laureate Richard Feynman argued in favor of broad nano-scale research during his illustrious address. The first time the idea of nanotechnology was brought to the world’s notice was in 1959 with the publication of There’s Plenty of Room at the Bottom [1]. Feynman outlined a procedure for developing the skills necessary to control individual atoms and molecules by building and employing one set of precise instruments to operate a second set that is proportionately smaller, and so on down to the required size [2]. The sun is the only possibility, in the opinion of many experts, that can provide a fully developed answer to the energy dilemma. Therefore, once their production cost has fallen to an economical level in comparison to other accessible energy supplies, solar cells may be called a mainstream renewable energy source [1]. According to Norio ...