Flexible solar panels getting ready for prime time
June 22, 2009 by Tom GuayPosted in: In this week's e-newsletter, Latest News & Views, News, Technology
Bit by bit, technology’s showing up that will let companies wean themselves off the existing electricity grid and generate their own solar power.
And companies can do this without the bulky and pricey roof-top solar panels.
To beat the price and limitations of today’s panels, researchers at McMaster University have developed a flexible solar strip. It’s currently powering the lights at a bus stop on campus.
The two solar strips attached to the shelter’s curved roof generate 4.5 watts of electricity to power multi-LED light fixtures. The combination is bright enough to read a book while waiting for the bus. Next upgrade is to power an Internet-based bus schedule posted at the bus stop.
The flexible solar panel is working great right now, in the summer, to easily recharge the batteries for the lighting system. The McMaster team will study how the system works during Canadian winters before commercializing the system.
McMaster’s story is here.
Others are working on flexible solar panels. For example, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, based in Richmond, WA, plans to commercialize flexible solar panels to replace the boxy, rigid panels on today’s rooftops. Pacific says its flexible solar panels (aka building integrated photovoltaics) will be cheaper than than current panels and will last for 25 years.
Another design from Ohio-based Xunlight Corp. creates a panel that’s a mile long. Click here.
Tags: flexible solar strips, McMaster University, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, solar power, Xunlight Corp.
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August 11th, 2009 at 12:33 pm
Sounds good. Now, does this incorporate the existing ‘thin-film solar’? And if so, what do they currently tout to be their percentage of efficiency? I’m sure there will be solar paint and other exterior finishes in the near future. Imagine what we’ll be discussing here ten years from now.