One day, a thin film of 'solar panel' could be painted over windows and walls to turn every home into a giant hi-tech 'sun trap'
One day, a thin film of 'solar panel' could be painted over windows and walls to turn every home into a
giant hi-tech 'sun trap'.
The hi-tech solution could make solar energy a practical solution t the energy crisis.
The technology has long been championed as a solution to the growing energy crisis, but as it exists now, it is far too expensive.
A
typical home needs around 285 square feet of solar panels to meet its
electricity needs, costing around £10,000, although that does not include the
expensive installation.
Scientists
at USC have developed a potential pathway to cheap, stable solar cells
made from nanocrystals so small they can exist as a liquid ink and be
painted or printed onto clear surfaces.
The
solar nanocrystals are about four nanometers in size — meaning you
could fit more than 250,000,000,000 on the head of a pin — and float
them in a liquid solution.
'Like
you print a newspaper, you can print solar cells,’ said Richard L.
Brutchey, assistant professor of chemistry at the USC Dornsife College
of Letters, Arts and Sciences.
