New nanotech breakthrough could drastically reduce solar costs

THE WOODLANDS, USA: Evolution Solar has applauded the news that Scientists at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) have successfully coated paper with a solar cell, part of a suite of research projects aimed at energy breakthroughs.

The paper solar cells are one of many avenues being pursued around nanoscale materials at the Eni-MIT Solar Frontiers Center in Cambridge, Massachusetts. This breakthrough could lead to layers of these materials essentially being sprayed using different manufacturing techniques to make a thin-film solar cell on a plastic, paper, or metal foils. This technology has the potential to revolutionize the solar industry and result in drastic solar cost reductions.

The technique, in which paper is coated with organic semiconductor material using a process similar to an inkjet printer, is a promising way to lower the weight of solar panels. Installations could potentially be done using only a staple gun.

“The new solar technology is moving at light-speed,” stated Robert Hines, President of Evolution Solar. “Costs are the number one inhibitor to solar installations. We expect that new technology will continually produce significant cost reductions for solar as we go forward.”

MIT professor Karen Gleason headed the research and has submitted a paper for scientific review but it has not yet been published. MIT said this is the first time a solar cell has been printed on paper.