EnergySpin wrote:Which category does Titanio Oxide falls into (i.e. Multicrystalline, current Thin-film, current Multicrystalline, anticipated, Thin-film anticipated). My impression is that these babies were relatively cheap (financially and energetically) livestock.
As far as I understand it, titanium dioxide does not fall into any of those categories. It is used in dye-sensitized solar cells, which are still in a research stage. They could potentially become much cheaper than current solar cells, but today there still seem to be problems with their long-term stability and temperature stability.
These issues need to be resolved by further research, and I believe that is why dye-sensitized cells have not been included in the comparison of energy payback times. My guess would be that for dye-sensitized cells, an energy payback time of about one year (as for anticipated thin-film cells) could be achieved once they're mass-produced. But currently we don't know when that will happen.
Let me add that I'm not really an expert on solar cells, since I'm working in the department on "thermal systems and buildings", specifically on solar cooling (i.e. heat driven cooling cycles). For details on solar cell development, I would have to ask my colleagues in that department.
