Annual Report 2010–11

28 New Solar Cells A research team led by Prof. Xiao Xudong and Prof. Li Quan of the Department of Physics successfully developed a low-cost, high- efficiency CIGS thin film solar cell. CIGS cells are fabricated by depositing multilayer thin film materials of 1/200 mm in thickness on low-cost substrates such as glass, plastic and metal foil. The cells generate electricity even in cloudy weather and dim light. If made into transparent solar cells to clothe the outer glass walls of commercial buildings, they can cover about 60% of electricity consumption for a 20-storey commercial building. They can also be integrated into consumer products such as backpacks, handbags, tents, and sunshades for charging electronic products. A CIGS solar cell the size of a hand can fully charge a mobile phone in three hours under sunlight. It can also be used as power supply for aerospace and military devices, as well as electric cars. CIGS solar cells have the highest efficiency among various types of thin film solar cells. And compared to crystalline solar cells, they are 50 times thinner and cost 50% less to produce. 高效太陽能電池 物理系蕭旭東教授和李泉教授領導的 研究團隊，研發出低成本、高效率的 銅銦鎵硒（ CIGS ）薄膜太陽能電池。 電池以玻璃、塑膠、金屬箔片等材料 為基底，再鍍上總厚度約 1/200 毫米 的多層薄膜材料組成，即使在陰天及 散射光下也可發電。 該電池的應用範圍極廣，可製成透視 式電池，覆蓋於辦公樓側牆和玻璃幕 牆，以樓高二十層的商業大廈為例， 可為大樓提供約六成電力。另外亦可 置於背包、手袋、帳篷、遮陽傘等物品 上，隨時隨地為電子產品充電，手掌大 小的電池只需日曬三小時，即可充滿 一部手機的電量。此外還可用作電動 車、航天或軍用設備的電源。 銅銦鎵硒薄膜太陽能電池的效率可媲 美市場主流的晶體硅電池，而厚度卻 薄五十倍，可大大節省一半生產 成本。 學生研發生物加密系統 中大活躍的研究氣氛不只見於教研 人員，還見於學生。生命科學學院生 物化學課程十一名學生編制了一套 嶄新的生物儲存、加密和提取系統， 利用大腸桿菌的質粒基因來儲存龐大 資料。 大約十年前，已有科學家提出利用細 菌儲存資料，並發現不同細菌在這方 面各有優勢。建基於此，這些學生提 出將龐大資料數據分成小份，再運用 蕭旭東教授（左）與李泉教授 Prof. Xiao Xudong (left) and Prof. Li Quan