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Peel-and-Stick Solar Cells Created At Stanford University
cylonlover writes "Traditionally, thin-film solar cells are made with rigid glass substrates, limiting their potential applications. Flexible versions do exist, although they require special production techniques and/or materials. Now, however, scientists from Stanford University have created thin, flexible solar cells that are made from standard materials – and they can applied to just about any surface, like a sticker. The cells have been successfully applied to a variety of both flat and curved surfaces – including glass, plastic and paper – without any loss of efficiency. Not only does the new process allow for solar cells to applied to things like mobile devices, helmets, dashboards or windows, but the stickers are reportedly both lighter and less costly to make than equivalent-sized traditional photovoltaic panels. There's also no waste involved, as the silicon/silicon dioxide wafers can be reused."
As cool as this is, I don't see it solving the real issue with solar panels - the expense of retrofitting them to a house/office tower. You'll still need to invest in all the inverters etc, and probably a professional electrician (assuming you like your building not on fire) to use these in any large-scale application, even if they do allow a few more locations to be used. Of course, I'd still love to just whack a couple on my packpack to charge my laptop while at uni...
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This is how I feel about Solar Cells. EVERY DAMN WEEK, another "breakthrough" that will make then cheap, ubiquitous, flexible, transparent, more efficient, etc. etc.
Yet, when I go shopping for a solar panel, all I get is the same old crap, and it's still crazy expensive.
All I ever hear is that they are coming to market "soon". And that was already 5 years ago. Frankly, next week I wouldn't be surprised if we heard about solar panels with 100% efficiency and only cost 10 cents. But you'd never be able to actually BUY them in your lifetime.
How's that ultracapacitor technology going for you? Or the Batteries that run on air?
If telephones are outlawed, then only outlaws will have telephones.
The prices of solar cells have been dropping rapidly over the last few years. I think the "green" movement is finally driving up demand to the point where they're becoming commodity items instead of specialty items. They're now available in prices under a dollar per watt, which is about 4 times cheaper than they were just three years ago (the last time I was looking at a rooftop array.) That means today you can buy 400 square feet of solar panels for $5,220, capable of producing a peak power output of 5,500 watts. Not that you'll get that much power with every minute of sunshine, but it could keep a large set of batteries charged.
Of course there's extra money involved - the panels won't mount themselves on your roof, and you'll have to buy an inverter and wire it into your house. Batteries are surprisingly optional, by the way - unless you want to run off the grid, consider selling the electricity back to the electric company instead of storing it yourself. When the smart grid arrives it could make money, as the peak power prices generally coincide with the brightest and hottest days of the year.
I'm not sure how cheap you're expecting them to be get, but they're available today, and a lot cheaper than they were even just a few years ago. The only thing stopping you from buying them is inertia (and the money, of course).
John
As the linked article isn't fully detailed, you might want to read the actual paper (seems to be free access). Among other things, they note that these photocell stickers retain their original 7.5% efficiency, which although not incredibly high, is still pretty decent, given how cheap this will likely be. It should be great for costs to have the actual wafer be reusable.