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Printable, Rollable Solar Panels Could Go Anywhere

Posted by timothy on from the why-isn't-my-car's-dome-light-an-led dept.

Al writes "A startup based in Toledo, Ohio, has developed a way to make large, flexible solar panels using a roll-to-roll manufacturing technique. Thin-film amorphous silicon solar cells are formed on thin sheets of stainless steel, and each solar module is about one meter wide and five-and-a-half meters long. Conventional silicon solar panels are bulky and rigid, but these lightweight, flexible sheets could easily be integrated into roofs and building facades."

13 of 187 comments (clear)

  1. Imagine that by tyrione · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Isn't it amazing how all of these advancements show up when given a little push?

    1. Re:Imagine that by CRCulver · · Score: 3, Insightful

      It's Firefox. Slashdot has looked like crap for at least a month now. For a news for nerds site, it's curious that they aren't concerned with making it look decent on one of the most popular browsers among nerds.

    2. Re:Imagine that by feepness · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Isn't it amazing how all of these advancements show up when given a little push?

      It really is amazing how they founded a company, got a grant, looked into an area of research, and made a breakthrough all in less than three months.

      I gotta hand it to the administration. I used to think government was inefficient. Now I know better.

    3. Re:Imagine that by Rei · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Second, quite frankly, the technique means crap, because they are inefficient, cheap panels, which makes no sense unless you have a huge roof.

      1. There's no shortage of unused roof space in the world right now. What matters is cost per watt. Make it cheap enough, and it'll be installed everywhere.

      2. Home-scale inverters would be a heck of a lot cheaper if their volume went up 1,000-fold. And that's what'd happen if solar panels that were easy to install on new (or especially existing) homes could be made cheaply enough.

      3. Solar panels aren't only used on roofs. I actually have a flexible solar panel. It's only 12V/5W -- not exactly a roof-scale installation. I use it for backpacking. I wired it up to a car lighter socket->USB converter, and when it's sunny, I can charge AAs and AAAs (two at a time, in a couple hours), a cell phone, or run other USB accessories.

      --
      What a crazy random happenstance!
  2. Will we actually be able to buy these? by drinkypoo · · Score: 4, Insightful

    We all heard about how great Nanosolar is, but it's not actually possible to buy any. Will this stuff be any different?

    --
    "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
    1. Re:Will we actually be able to buy these? by Jeremi · · Score: 4, Insightful

      The quality of their business plan is completely irrelevant to my reaction to my inability to purchase their product.

      Also, your reaction to your inability to purchase their product is completely irrelevant to the quality of their business plan.

      --


      I don't care if it's 90,000 hectares. That lake was not my doing.
  3. How much will it cost? by wjwlsn · · Score: 5, Insightful

    This sounds like a great idea, but it probably isn't the breakthrough that the summary might otherwise suggest. The efficiency of the resulting solar panels, even with triple-junction cells, is still only 8% at most (as stated in the article). At that level of efficiency, the manufacturing process will have to be very inexpensive for these to make sense for the average consumer.

    --
    Getting tired of Slashdot... moving to Usenet comp.misc for a while.
    1. Re:How much will it cost? by Karganeth · · Score: 3, Insightful

      It'll have to be around 40% of the cost of a standard solar cell (since many are around 20% efficient). It doesn't seem much when you consider that these solar panels are extremely thin. The amount of materials needed to create them will be very small and these solar panels are printable. If only they showed us a price we'd know if they were the future or not.

  4. Re:Safety by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Actually, it's by far the most dangerous. It is completely unshielded, and its ionizing radiation is responsible for thousands of cancer deaths each year.

  5. Sigh, another technology that will make it someday by barfy · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Where are the Stanford 10x Li-ion batteries???

    http://news-service.stanford.edu/news/2008/january9/nanowire-010908.html

    This ALONE will change everything. From an All day Iphone and netbook. To a Chevy Volt that costs 1/2 as much.

    WHERE IS IT?

  6. Re:Safety by Jeremi · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Actually, it's by far the most dangerous. It is completely unshielded, and its ionizing radiation is responsible for thousands of cancer deaths each year.

    Of course, there is the small detail of it being equally dangerous whether you harvest the power, or not. So we might as well....

    --


    I don't care if it's 90,000 hectares. That lake was not my doing.
  7. Re:Safety by mcvos · · Score: 2, Insightful

    If that dangerous radiation hadn't been there at all, nobody would ever have died from anything.

  8. Re:Safety by mcvos · · Score: 2, Insightful

    ummmm, I'm sure the magnetosphere shields us from the suns radiation.

    Imperfectly though. Otherwise the sky would be dark during the day.