Eco Factor: Flexible solar cells that can be printed onto any material.
Being rigid, heavy and opaque, traditional solar cells have limited uses. However, being reliable, these cells have reduced carbon emissions by a considerable amount. To reduce the amount of CO2 in the atmosphere even further, some ingenuity in solar cell design was required, and that has finally been brought by researchers at the University of Illinois. John A. Rogers, a professor of material science and engineering, has developed a new technology which enables solar cells to be printed on many materials, making them flexible and efficient at the same time.
The technology is based on the use of ultrathin, semitransparent cells enabling developers to print cells on plastic rolls that could be unfurled for dozens of uses or stamped onto fabric for energy-generating shirts. The technology has been licensed to Semprius, a semiconductor company in Durham, N.C., which could roll out the initial prototypes in a year. The ultrathin solar cells are first fabricated on semiconductor wafers using conventional techniques and are then transferred onto another material using a soft rubber stamp, which is used to print these solar cells onto any flexible material.
To control the flexibility and the transparency of these cells, their density on any material has to be altered. Thus altering the density would enable developers to integrate these cells into windscreens that generate electricity for your electric or hybrid car. Another use of the technology could be in clothes that have the capability to charge your gizmos whenever you wear them.
Being rigid, heavy and opaque, traditional solar cells have limited uses. However, being reliable, these cells have reduced carbon emissions by a considerable amount. To reduce the amount of CO2 in the atmosphere even further, some ingenuity in solar cell design was required, and that has finally been brought by researchers at the University of Illinois. John A. Rogers, a professor of material science and engineering, has developed a new technology which enables solar cells to be printed on many materials, making them flexible and efficient at the same time.
The technology is based on the use of ultrathin, semitransparent cells enabling developers to print cells on plastic rolls that could be unfurled for dozens of uses or stamped onto fabric for energy-generating shirts. The technology has been licensed to Semprius, a semiconductor company in Durham, N.C., which could roll out the initial prototypes in a year. The ultrathin solar cells are first fabricated on semiconductor wafers using conventional techniques and are then transferred onto another material using a soft rubber stamp, which is used to print these solar cells onto any flexible material.
To control the flexibility and the transparency of these cells, their density on any material has to be altered. Thus altering the density would enable developers to integrate these cells into windscreens that generate electricity for your electric or hybrid car. Another use of the technology could be in clothes that have the capability to charge your gizmos whenever you wear them.
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