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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."

6 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?

  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.

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      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.

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    Getting tired of Slashdot... moving to Usenet comp.misc for a while.
  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. 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.