Researchers at Swansea University in Wales, led by Dr. Dave Worsley in the Materials Research Centre at the University's School of Engineering, are investigating ways of painting solar cells onto the flexible steel surfaces commonly used for cladding buildings. Unlike conventional solar cells, the materials being developed at Swansea are more efficient at capturing low light radiation. The researchers’ aim is to produce cells that can be painted onto a flexible steel surface at a rate of 30-40 sq m/min.

Researchers at Swansea University in Wales, led by Dr. Dave Worsley, a Reader in the Materials Research Centre at the University's School of Engineering, are investigating ways of painting solar cells onto the flexible steel surfaces commonly used for cladding buildings.

"We have been collaborating with the steel industry for decades," explains Worsely, "but have tended to focus our attention on improving the long-term durability and corrosion-resistance of the steel. We haven't really paid much attention to how we can make the outside of the steel capable of doing something other than looking good.

"One of our engineering doctorate students was researching how sunlight interacts with paint and degrades it, which led to us developing a new photovoltaic method of capturing solar energy."

Unlike conventional solar cells, the materials being developed at Swansea are more efficient at capturing low light radiation, meaning that they are better suited to the British climate.

A research grant from the Welsh Assembly Government's Welsh Energy Research Centre (WERC) enabled Worsley to work with a leading metals group, Corus, to investigate the feasibility of developing an efficient solar cell system that can be applied to steel building products.

The success of the study led to the award of a three-year project worth over £1.5 million by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC).

Swansea University is now leading a partnership with Bangor University, University of Bath, and the Imperial College London to develop commercially viable photovoltaic materials for use in the steel industry.

Paint is applied to steel when it is passed through rollers during the manufacturing process, and it is hoped that the same approach can be used to build up layers of the solar cell system. The researchers’ aim is to produce cells that can be painted onto a flexible steel surface at a rate of 30-40 sq m/min.

"Corus Colours produces around 100 million sq m of steel building cladding a year,” said Worsley. “If this was treated with the photovoltaic material, and assuming a conservative 5% energy conversion rate, then we could be looking at generating 4,500 gigawatts of electricity through the solar cells annually. That’s the equivalent output of roughly 50 wind farms."

Worsley will be working closely with Corus to research practical, cost-efficient methods of mounting the system on steel structures, with a view to the eventual commercialization of the product.

For more information about the School of Engineering at Swansea University visitwww.swan.ac.uk/engineering/.