Researchers at the university have developed a miniature photovoltaic cell that is printed on plastic, cloth and other materials. The cells are ultra-thin, semitransparent, and flexible which is a revolutionary development compared to the current standard.The technology has a variety of uses including putting solar cells on clothes, umbrellas, and plastic rolls.
The researcher, John A. Rogers, a professor of materials science and engineering at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, and his team use a standard printing technique to create solar cells that are a tenth the thickness of conventional semiconductor cells, or even thinner. The cells are so flexible that dense arrays of them can be rolled tightly around a pencil. The technology has been licensed to Semprius, a semiconductor company in Durham, N.C., that expects to begin a pilot project making solar modules in about a year. Dr. Rogers’s approach offers a unique strategy for making highly efficient, flexible solar cells for large-scale production, said Ali Javey, an electrical engineer and assistant professor at the University of California, Berkeley, who co-wrote a review of the work for the journal Nature Materials.
This is a huge development in the commercialization of green technologies. Way to go Illinois!
Solar Tech: Not Just on the Roof Anymore – The New York Times
Photo: Peter Wynn Thompson for The New York Times
