Do you believe that the old car batteries are just a dangerous waste? Well, in part so… but some people have thought of use them to derive solar cells.
When it comes to clean energy, there is nothing better than to kill two birds with one stone. Especially if these pigeons are ecologically dangerous.
Scientists at MIT, with a search led by Angela Belcher and Paula Hammond, have developed a technique to produce solar cells from old car batteries. Not only the batteries for used cars have proven a valuable resource of materials necessary for the production of these cells, but also prevents their re-use o chemicals present in them (for example, lead) can be dispersed in the environment. The document certifying the research was published in the journal Energy and Environmental Science, and shows that the perovskite, the mineral content within the car batteries, you can produce efficient cells almost as much as those in silicon.
The vast majority of batteries recycled in the United States, and most of the lead contained therein, was reused in new batteries. However, technology has progressed and most batteries are now produced with safer materials, such as lithium ions. So, there will be no immediate use for recycled lead: a huge risk to the environment!
It is estimated that, each time the technology evolves, more than 200 million batteries are removed or replaced, in the US alone.
This, however, is a huge resource for the production of solar cells! Obtain perovskite from raw ore, to produce solar cells, in fact, produces toxic byproducts, but, by recycling lead from old batteries, the environmental risk is minimized.
Furthermore, each panel of cells requires only a layer of material thickness micrometer, therefore, from each battery can produce enough panels to meet the needs of 30 families. Furthermore, the perovskite present in the panels that have to be replaced after many years, can be used again for the production of new cells, without losing efficiency.
The production technology presented in this video, according to scholars, is easily replicable … judge for yourself!
http://youtu.be/X3omqERE1AA
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