Amazing thins in the World.

Australian Scientists close to commercializing printable Solar Panels.

team of solar power scientists in Australia known as the Victorian Organic Solar Cell Consortium are closing in on finally commercialising a cheap and quick way of printing solar panels onto plastic. The team is made up of experts from the CSIRO, the University of Melbourne and Monash University, and they have all been working on the project together for seven years.

[Image Courtesy of CSIRO]

CSIRO’s senior research scientist Dr Fiona Scholes said the technology was ready for the commercialisation stage and could be used to power “laptops to rooftops“. As the solar panels are printed onto plastic it means they have a broad range of uses; thin cases for your electronics will not only protect them but could also power them.

“iPad covers, laptop bags, skins of iPhone – not just for casing electronics but to collect some energy as well and power those electronics,” Dr Scholes said.

They can also be printed semi-transparent which means they can be applied to windows, perfect for giant skyscrapers. “It can be made to be semitransparent – we can use it for a tinted window scenario.”

[Image Courtesy of CSIRO]

The team modified a normal commercial printer so that it could print what they call ‘solar ink’ which is then printed onto thin sheets of plastic. The team originally produced a coin sized solar panel before rapidly upscaling the technology to an A3 sheet.

“It’s very cheap. The way in which it looks and works is quite different to conventional silicon rooftop solar,” she said. “We print them onto plastic in more or less the same way we print our plastic banknotes.”

The CSIRO has had the solar cells on its Clayton roof for the past 18 months, with decent results. The printed cells are 10 times less efficient than standard solar panels, which are made of silicon, but scientists hope to improve that. The technology is however said to be a lot cheaper than silicone photovoltaics.

“It would be wonderful if we could achieve a similar power delivery at significantly reduced cost. Silicon is falling in price, but think about how cheap plastic is. The ink is a negligible cost, so the raw materials are very cost effective.”

Another huge benefit is the ease of transport, meaning that the tech could reach difficult and less fortunate areas of the world pretty easily. According to ABC they have already received a lot of interest from companies interested in commercialising the product.

“We can’t manufacture them here, but we are at the point where they can be taken up by a manufacturer,” she told Guardian Australia.