Watch: These Ultra-Thin Solar Cells Can Turn Any Surface Into A Power Source

MIT engineers develop paper-thin solar cells that can power any surface.

A group of engineers from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) created ultralight fabric solar cells that can quickly and easily convert any surface into a power source. The durable, flexible solar cells, which are thinner than human hair, could be an interesting solution for deployment in remote locations or for emergency assistance in the event of a power outage.

According to an MIT press release, these solar cells are glued to a strong, lightweight fabric, making them simple to install on a fixed surface. They can provide energy on the go as a wearable power fabric or be transported and quickly deployed in remote locations for emergency assistance.

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“They are one-hundredth the weight of conventional solar panels, generate 18 times more power-per-kilogram, and are made from semiconducting inks using printing processes that can be scaled in the future to large-area manufacturing,” the release said.

“The metrics used to evaluate a new solar cell technology are typically limited to their power conversion efficiency and their cost in dollars-per-watt. Just as important is integrability – the ease with which the new technology can be adapted,” Vladimir Bulovic, the Fariborz Maseeh Chair in Emerging Technology, leader of the Organic and Nanostructured Electronics Laboratory (ONE Lab), director of MIT.nano, and senior author, said in a statement.

“The lightweight solar fabrics enable integrability, providing impetus for the current work. We strive to accelerate solar adoption, given the present urgent need to deploy new carbon-free sources of energy,” he added.

This innovation may also help with energy production in the future because the development of solar energy offers numerous community benefits in terms of resilience and the economy.

Due to their compatibility, there may be a wide range of uses and applications for these solar cells in the future, all of which will contribute to human welfare efforts.

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