Flexible Solar Panels
New Scientist reported on 18th Dec 2004
Pliable solar cells are on a rollImagine wearing a jacket or rucksack that charges up your mobile phone while you take a walk. Or a tent whose flysheet charges batteries all day so campers can have light all night. Or a roll-out plastic sheet you can place on a car's rear window shelf to power a child's DVD player.
Such applications could soon become a reality thanks to a light, flexible solar panel that is a little thicker than photographic film and can easily be applied to everyday fabrics. The thin, bendy solar panels, which could be on the market within three years, are the fruit of a three-nation European Union research project called H-Alpha Solar (H-AS). (more)
More discussion of progress in this area happened on the Greenbuilding list, and I've excerpted it ....
Mitra Ardron: 19 Dec 2004:
I don't know about this product, but there is a similar solar cell from Konarka www.konarka.com, which is a clear plastic with liquid filled channels, and also reputedly a similar product from some Bay Area nano-tech company (i don't have a lead on that one).These materials are interesting since they can handle complex curves (curve in two directions at once).
The developers are saying that the efficiency measured in Watts per sq meter is not the issue, its the $$$/watt that is important, and they are claiming that even at fairly low volumes of production the cost per kilowatt will be well underneath crystaline cells. Since the material is basically a flexible layer that can be layed over a roof, I am guessing that the total system costs would be reduced as well.
My understanding is that the cells (from Konarka) are only available in small quanities now for test applications.
(This information is from the Solar Energy conference in San Francisco in October, and seems to be evolving pretty rapidly).
John Straube, Assistant Professor, Dept of Civil Engineering & School of Architecture University of
Waterloo Waterloo, Ont.
Production has recently begun on a similar and in some ways better product called Spheral Solar. It uses only aluminum and silicon (no polluting gallium arsenide or similar, and no need for solvents). It is less efficient but costs less per Watt than other systems. They believe they can be competitive all the way down to $2/watt, maybe less (current tech is around $4-5). The flexibility is a by-product of the tech, not a sought after feature. So far their production is mostly bought up already.
Kyosemi makes the spheral solar cells. I had the privilege of meeting the top Kyosemi executives and their chief engineer when they spent the day here at Idaho State University. They are now finalizing the plans for a full scale production facility. The interesting thing about these spheral cells is that they also absorb radiation in the infra red range. I have several of the sample cells as well as some prototype panels and I have been very impressed with the power output. Since the cells absorb energy from 360 degrees, placing a reflective surface behind them almost doubles the output. The prototype panels are quite flexible because the cells are combined in strings (like pearls).
Here is the California company that is also working on printable solar panels. Nanosolar
Posted by mitra at December 22, 2004 5:26 PM
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