Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

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."

2 of 187 comments (clear)

  1. 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.
  2. 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.