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Scientists develop ultra-thin solar cells

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© 2012 AFP

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Yay! Now I get to wear my tinfoil hat and claim it's powering my iphone!!

3 ( +3 / -0 )

Wow. Put them on new smart phones so we don't need a battery.

2 ( +2 / -0 )

Weave the thread into clothing! With LED displays! Tents or space survival blankets that warm! I can think of hundreds of ideas! I have no idea if they will work though! The current portable solar charging devices are very slow! for example: Backpacking and charging a GPS, phone etc. Batteries are heavy and as," MustardKing", pointed out, we haven't exceeded our technology to off batteries yet!

1 ( +1 / -0 )

This is basic research laying groundwork for applications. 4% efficiency means a lot if you can install or spray it over a wide area. The efficiency will of course improve.

I doubt it makes sense for clothes, but as a coating for cars, you have a way of easy, supplemental recharging. For your home, solar curtains. Or solar roofs.

On vessels, sails that provide power two ways.

How about helium-filled balloons made of the stuff that automatically inflate and rise into the sky, tethered to your home or the municipal power grid? Eventually people will "farm" energy and live off the income.

"Solar trees" that you erect in your yard.

Think how much power Tokyo Sky Tree could generate?

The possibilities are indeed endless.

1 ( +2 / -1 )

Unfortunately jack, most of us carry our phones in our pockets or bags when out..

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Put them everywhere so we have cheap, clean energy...

I read a similar article that light activated paint had been developed yet where is it?

Anything that takes centralized control from energy is NEVER allowed....

0 ( +0 / -0 )

I have no idea why this report made the news. They took the high efficiency devices already reported (for example, Mitsubishi, 11% efficiency), and they took out some layers, thus making it thinner, but also much less effective (4%) = good for nothing. They don't do any lifetime studies, so claiming "less prone to damage" is pure lying (rather than mechanical damage, chemical and electochemical damage is the big problem). These guys are not big players in the field, and this contribution is non-relevant to the field, so I have no idea why the media picked it up.

kurisupisu, there is work going on trying to "paint" a car or a building with OPVs. the big challenge now is the fabrication method, spray technologies, and roll-to-roll (printing) technologies. Once the efficiency goes over 12% and the manufacturing problems are solved, OPVs will be on the market. But we don't know yet if they will surpass the silicon technology

0 ( +1 / -1 )

if is thermovoltaic - hot, warm, not only photovoltaic - light, good.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Awesome stuff.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Yes,the possibilities are endless and even with low efficiency rates we could still have enough power generated than we need......

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Definitely, Kris.

One more reason gone why you'd need to be near a grid.

So all that land space out there could have isolated single-family residences or small communities with microwaved or satellite comms access, but little need for much else. Food could be locally farmed and supplemented by air. Plenty of space for a runway.

Think as well of all the islands.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

And the march goes on. Pretty smart.

-1 ( +0 / -1 )

Elderly people who might want to wear sensors to monitor their health would not need to carry around batteries

If they want it to remain operating at night time, yes, they will.

If you want anything solar to operate constantly, you need batteries to store unused power for later.

It was one of the first things I noticed when I thought about getting solar panels and a wind turbine for the house to get off the grid. I need a bank of batteries to store that power for use when the wind isn't blowing and the sun isn't shining. For so many applications, you are not getting far without batteries, and far more than we need ultra-thin flexible solar cells, we need better batteries.

-1 ( +1 / -2 )

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