Solar Power like you’ve never seen before – yea!!!!by Danell Glade |
The
days of bulky, expensive solar panels that were heavy and required
harsh chemicals to produce and a lot of labor to install may be coming
to an end. Scientists in Australia have been able to produce the largest
ever printed solar cells using a newly developed solar cell printer. Yes, they are printing solar cells.
The cells are flexible, cheap, and made from organic plastics and materials.
According to scientist Dr Scott Watkins, printing cells on such a large scale opens up a huge range of possibilities for pilot applications:
“There are so many things we can do with cells this size[...]We can set them into advertising signage, powering lights and other interactive elements. We can even embed them into laptop cases to provide backup power for the machine inside.”
“There are so many things we can do with cells this size[...]We can set them into advertising signage, powering lights and other interactive elements. We can even embed them into laptop cases to provide backup power for the machine inside.”
Dr. David Jones has a few more uses in mind:
“Eventually
we see these being laminated to windows that line skyscrapers. By
printing directly to materials like steel, we’ll also be able to embed
cells onto roofing materials.”
Image: VICOSC’s new solar cell printer installed at CSIRO.
These organic solar cells differ from conventional solar panels in that they are lighter, flexible, semi-transparent, and projected to be much cheaper.
The
technology and manufacturing are still in the research phase, but
scientists behind the project are hopeful for it’s future use for
consumers. According to one of the project’s partners, CSIRO:
“The
consortium is currently only purchasing materials on a research scale.
When bought on a larger scale it is anticipated that component costs
will be significantly lower and that pricing around A$1/W will be
achievable.”
$1
per watt? Coupled with the lowered installation costs of this lighter
system, that is utterly revolutionary. With these costs, a family would
be able to cleanly power their home for only a few thousand dollars.
There
is also an added benefit to printing solar cells over traditional
manufacturing of solar panels: factories can be much smaller, therefore
also much cheaper. This will allow for the production of these cells to
be more decentralized making them more accessible in the developing
world and the first world alike.
Is this the breakthrough that finally kills ‘Big Oil’ and brings solar power to the world? We think they are getting close.
Here’s a short video that explains these cells:
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Nick Bernabe is the owner and lead editor of the website TheAntiMedia.org, an activist, blogger, and the founder and spokesman of the March Against Monsanto movement. He is also a guest contributor to The Mind Unleashed. Please follow his Facebook page by clicking here.
Image credits: csiro.au