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New Flexible Plastic Solar Panels Are Inexpensive And Easy To Make
ScienceDaily.com ^ | July 19, 2007 | Unattributed

Posted on 07/20/2007 9:23:42 AM PDT by gpapa

Science Daily — Researchers at New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT) have developed an inexpensive solar cell that can be painted or printed on flexible plastic sheets. "The process is simple," said lead researcher and author Somenath Mitra, PhD, professor and acting chair of NJIT's Department of Chemistry and Environmental Sciences. "Someday homeowners will even be able to print sheets of these solar cells with inexpensive home-based inkjet printers. Consumers can then slap the finished product on a wall, roof or billboard to create their own power stations."

Harvesting energy directly from abundant solar radiation using solar cells is increasingly emerging as a major component of future global energy strategy, said Mitra. Yet, when it comes to harnessing renewable energy, challenges remain. Expensive, large-scale infrastructures such as wind mills or dams are necessary to drive renewable energy sources, such as wind or hydroelectric power plants. Purified silicon, also used for making computer chips, is a core material for fabricating conventional solar cells. However, the processing of a material such as purified silicon is beyond the reach of most consumers.

"Developing organic solar cells from polymers, however, is a cheap and potentially simpler alternative," said Mitra. "We foresee a great deal of interest in our work because solar cells can be inexpensively printed or simply painted on exterior building walls and/or roof tops. Imagine some day driving in your hybrid car with a solar panel painted on the roof, which is producing electricity to drive the engine. The opportunities are endless. "

(Excerpt) Read more at sciencedaily.com ...


TOPICS: Science
KEYWORDS: energy; plastic; solarpanels

1 posted on 07/20/2007 9:23:44 AM PDT by gpapa
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To: gpapa

Let’s hope there’s something to this and that the people developing it aren’t subject to buyouts or other forms of intimidation.


2 posted on 07/20/2007 9:25:31 AM PDT by Leatherneck_MT (Famously frisky)
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To: gpapa

More announcement than product. If they printed these announcements on the back of solar panels and stuck them under our windshield wipers we would have enough watt-hours to recharge our car batteries before lunch—nationwide!


3 posted on 07/20/2007 9:28:30 AM PDT by RightWhale (It's Brecht's donkey, not mine)
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To: RightWhale

Good one!


4 posted on 07/20/2007 9:43:48 AM PDT by mtbopfuyn (I think the border is kind of an artificial barrier - San Antonio councilwoman Patti Radle)
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To: gpapa

From what I’ve read the real problem with solar has long been the efficiency of the collectors because they tend to collect only a very narrow part of the light spectrum and reflect some 80% of the light hitting them.

Apparently there has been some success with solar collectors that collect and use more than 80% of the light striking them. The problem is as usual with large scale production. Such collectors could be much smaller and eventually cheaper of production become feasible.


5 posted on 07/20/2007 10:05:00 AM PDT by cripplecreek (Greed is NOT a conservative ideal.)
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To: Uncledave

for your ping list


6 posted on 07/20/2007 10:06:44 AM PDT by Kevmo (We should withdraw from Iraq -- via Tehran. And Duncan Hunter is just the man to get that job done.)
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To: gpapa

The article didn’t state the efficiency did it?

Plastic, flexible, big deal. We need to get the efficiency much higher if solar is to be useful.


7 posted on 07/20/2007 10:08:00 AM PDT by ovrtaxt (The FairTax and the North American Union are mutually exclusive.)
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To: gpapa; RedStateRocker; Dementon; eraser2005; Calpernia; DTogo; Maelstrom; Yehuda; babble-on; ...
Renewable Energy Ping

Please Freep Mail me if you'd like on/off

8 posted on 07/20/2007 10:46:59 AM PDT by Uncledave
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To: gpapa

Kewl. One more step in the right direction.


9 posted on 07/20/2007 10:54:30 AM PDT by OB1kNOb (Support Duncan Hunter for the 2008 GOP presidential nominee. He will build the fence!!)
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To: gpapa
"Someday homeowners will even be able to print sheets of these solar cells with inexpensive home-based inkjet printers. Consumers can then slap the finished product on a wall, roof or billboard to create their own power stations."

I'm not going to argue the "possibility", but what possible REASON could there be to put the material into ink-jet-like containers and have people run paper through their printers to create these?

Surely it would be much cheaper just to print the papers in a big factory and sell reams to the homeowners.

Or is the idea that they will come in colors and you can print your own designs? still pretty stupid if you ask me.

I wonder how you solder leads to a piece of printed paper?.....

10 posted on 07/20/2007 11:21:06 AM PDT by CharlesWayneCT
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To: gpapa

Interesting....


11 posted on 07/20/2007 11:28:30 AM PDT by shield (A wise man's heart is at his RIGHT hand;but a fool's heart at his LEFT. Ecc 10:2)
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To: Uncledave

tnanks.


12 posted on 07/20/2007 1:41:26 PM PDT by ken21 ( b 4 fred.)
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To: RightWhale

I’d buy some of these. Too bad they will never see the light of day.


13 posted on 07/20/2007 1:45:46 PM PDT by CJ Wolf
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To: ovrtaxt

Efficiency is much less important than cost for home solar cell usage.

An 80% efficient solar cell that costs 10 times as much as a 15% efficient solar cell gets us nowhere.

Even with an 80% efficient cell, you could not generate enough power to drive a vehicle from solar cells covering its entire surface. So the claim in the article is disingenuous. It will never happen.

A house roof, on the other hand, could collect enough power to run the home even at 15% cell efficiency. If solar cell prices were to drop by 90%, most of the homes in the Southwest would cover their roofs with them because the payback period would be less than 5 years. They simply cost too much compared to grid electricity, and cost reduction while maintaining current efficiency is more important that chasing efficiency for its own sake.


14 posted on 07/20/2007 3:13:54 PM PDT by Kellis91789 (Liberals aren't atheists. They worship government -- including human sacrifices.)
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To: Kellis91789

good info- thanks!


15 posted on 07/20/2007 6:14:15 PM PDT by ovrtaxt (The FairTax and the North American Union are mutually exclusive.)
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