Cool benefits of printable solar panels

One of the greatest advantages of printable solar cells is their intrinsic cost effectiveness, as compared to conventional solar panel technology. In conventional solar panels the main cost is associated with supporting structures like glass, brackets etc, rather than the core mechanism. In relation to this, scientists at the Eni-MIT Solar Frontiers Research Center have successfully contrived a thin film solar panel technology that entails their (the panels) printing on paper. In current market terms, paper costs approximately a thousandth of glass. This trend alone alludes to a much lesser cost involved in alternative solar technologies (like paper solar panels).

Partly related to the first point of cost effectiveness, for a practical scope of commercialization, simple economics dictates the product should be feasible for mass production corresponding to a more expansive customer base. In that regard, flexibly printed solar cells have the potentiality to commercially progress beyond just the reach of some futuristic car concept or opulent architectural structure. Researchers at the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization (CSIRO) in Australia have managed to ingeniously create a technology that would allow for solar cells to be printed out just like money. According to one Gerry Wilson from CSIRO, the preliminary testing phase showed that the ’sheets’ of solar panels can be manufactured at 200 meters per minute, which makes it around a whopping 100 kilometers per day in normal circumstances.

Both of the above breakthroughs mentioned have one thing in common. These research organizations have been able to envisage a technology that would result in ultra-thin, flexible and portable solar panels. Almost analogous to the printing of paper, the adroit mechanisms involve the core functionality of a common inkjet printing process. The convenient outcome is - these solar ‘papers’ can be literally wrapped around rough and uneven surfaces like house furniture and safe accessories. Some of them are thin (and transparent) enough to act as draping over window surfaces, while the CSIRO scientists even claim their invention can be made to float on water. So, basically their inherent malleability can be used not just for efficient energy production, but also for effectual space management (especially when solar farms on land tend to take up a lot of space).

Under current circumstances, statistically there are around 1.5 billion people living in the world without any source of electricity. But printable solar cells certainly have the capacity to pose as their sustainable saviors, as proven by one Danish researcher - Frederik Krebs. This man has adroitly and rather conscientiously managed to conceive a type of LED lamp, which can be integrated with printable solar cells. The lithesome panels (printed out in reams) cover the surface of the lamps to mimic conventional fixtures. Overall, the practicality of the procedure can prove to be a small ‘big’ step to provide clean, green and most importantly accessible lighting to places lacking proper electricity infrastructure.

Some scientists have noted the advantages of printed solar panels which are even beyond the scope of just electricity production. According to Professor Jan Kleissl of environmental engineering at the University of California, San Diego, such solar panels can significantly reduce cooling and heating costs of a building. Basically acting as passive shading devices (or reflective roof membranes), the panels reduce the incoming heat (from sun) by a substantial degree. As a matter of fact, preliminary tests at UCSD showed that certain panels could even reduce the heat by a whopping 38 percent, if applied at strategic locations.