Flexible Solar Panels
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When you mention the
words “solar panel” many people think of the rigid glass covered
panels that you usually see mounted on the roof. That sort of
panel, usually just over two feet wide and four or five feet long,
is the main type that is used for current solar power
installations.
Not so many people know about the flexible options for generating
solar power. Firstly, for the home solar power system, you can buy
solar shingles, which replace ordinary roofing shingles. |
These come
rolled up, and unroll to about seven feet long. They can be nailed in place,
and the wiring is passed through holes in the roof. They are made using a
thin layer of amorphous silicon – that is a flexible form of silicon, unlike
the crystal silicon used in the rigid panels. Because of their form, they
are about half as efficient as regular panels in converting sunlight to
electricity, so twice the roof area is required for a particular output.
A more common
form of flexible solar panel is used in a unit to charge battery powered
devices, such as cell phones and PDAs. This type of panel can be folded or
rolled up for travel, then unrolled and used as needed. A thin film of
silicon is deposited on a flexible plastic, which forms the active solar
energy converter, and this is then wired to serve whatever function is
required. The connections may include special plugs for cell phones, or a
battery box for charging AA batteries. There are varieties of flexible solar
panels to suit most battery powered applications, including MP3 and DVD
players.
Finally, there’s
been extensive research and experimentation in the production of solar cells
from different materials in recent years, partly because there is a world
shortage of silicon, the main constituent of conventional photovoltaic
cells, which is predicted to last until 2010.
Researchers in
New Jersey are developing an “organic” coating that may be painted or
printed on to flexible plastic sheets or other surfaces. Organic means that
it is carbon based (just as people and animals, organic beings, are carbon
based). It is hoped that the technology will lead to a cost reduction for
solar cells. A similar idea is being pursued in Wales, where a firm called
G24i has developed a dye-sensitized solar cell, which is produced on a large
roll of foil, and is providing it for mobile phones in the developing world.
