New Silicon Solar Cells – Flexible As Carpet

Solar cells which have been in use for sometime have a new generation of cells being developed by researchers at the University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign and the Northern University. This new solar cell technology makes use of very minutely sliced silicon chips instead of the rigid plastic currently used in these cells.

The solar cells which are nearly a hundred times slimmer than the normal silicon chips are placed on a flexible surface making it convenient to be used on a curved surface or fabric.

The cells also use greatly competent single crystal silicon in place of the thin film solar cells that are already being manufactured by Sharp and Q-Cells.

These cells have been specifically designed to fulfill various functions, including being used as a solar skin on top of buildings and aircrafts or as large easy to roll sheets as well as a tinting film on sun roofs.

Although the costs of production have not yet been compared to its low usage of material, researchers are sure this brilliant new technology will over shadow its recent counterpart. – via CleanTechnica

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