Harnessing solar power, on a small scale

No thicker than a piece of paper - because it practically is a piece of paper - a solar panel created by an MIT researcher can be shoved into a pocket or made into a paper airplane, and it will still create energy when exposed to sunlight. The trick is in the way it is made. The panel is printed like ink onto a sheet of paper. Even folded up like a letter, it retains its ability to convert light to electricity. With her colleagues, Karen Gleason, a professor of chemical engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, published a paper last week in the journal Advanced Materials, demonstrating how they created a solar panel by printing tiny, lightweight layers of electrodes and semiconductors on a piece of paper.

Comments (0)

This post does not have any comments. Be the first to leave a comment below.


Post A Comment

You must be logged in before you can post a comment. Login now.

Featured Product

U.S. BATTERY RENEWABLE ENERGY SERIES DEEP CYCLE BATTERIES

U.S. BATTERY RENEWABLE ENERGY SERIES DEEP CYCLE BATTERIES

Our RE Series batteries are designed to provide the highest peak capacity, longest cycle life, and greatest reliability for use in industrial or residential renewable energy applications. Renewable Energy Series batteries utilize the company's exclusive XC2™ formulation and Diamond Plate Technology® to create the industry's most efficient battery plates, delivering greater watt-hours per liter and watt-hours per kilogram than any other flooded lead-acid battery in the market. Our Deep Cycle batteries are engineered to work with solar panels as well as other renewable energy applications.