John A. Rogers, a professor of materials science and engineering at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, and his team have figured out a new way to define solar energy.
They have successfully printed out solar cells on plastic rolls and have made them a tenth of the size of conventional semiconductor cells. This is a groundbreaking discovery and may lead to becoming a major game changer for the solar industry since the material is flexible, cheap and can be applied to almost anything as you can see in the photo below.
Dr. Rogers “has figured out how to grab thin layers of silicon or other inorganics, and put them on whatever substrates you want,” Dr. Javey said.
Peter Wynn Thompson for The New York Times
According to the NY Times interview, Dr. Rogers said he was pleased with the new cells’ flexibility and thinness but said that they offered another even more critical advantage. “That the technology is rollable and transparent is important,” he said. “But cost is the paramount consideration for a lot of solar applications, which have to be low-cost per watt generated.” The technology is producing cells that are often only two microns thick (a micron is one-millionth of a meter). “Thinner allows cheaper,” he said.
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They have successfully printed out solar cells on plastic rolls and have made them a tenth of the size of conventional semiconductor cells. This is a groundbreaking discovery and may lead to becoming a major game changer for the solar industry since the material is flexible, cheap and can be applied to almost anything as you can see in the photo below.
Dr. Rogers “has figured out how to grab thin layers of silicon or other inorganics, and put them on whatever substrates you want,” Dr. Javey said.
Peter Wynn Thompson for The New York Times
According to the NY Times interview, Dr. Rogers said he was pleased with the new cells’ flexibility and thinness but said that they offered another even more critical advantage. “That the technology is rollable and transparent is important,” he said. “But cost is the paramount consideration for a lot of solar applications, which have to be low-cost per watt generated.” The technology is producing cells that are often only two microns thick (a micron is one-millionth of a meter). “Thinner allows cheaper,” he said.
Are you doing something to be "Green"? Upload your video to us and we'll air it on GreenEnergyTV.com http://www.greenenergytv.com/Upload.aspx - Stay Green!
Additional post topics this week will cover green inventions, green jobs, energy innovation, electric cars, alternative energy videos and more.
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