These modules can be different colours and very flexible, so they could be installed in homes as semi-transparent windows or photovoltaic curtains that pick up solar power to produce electricity. The textiles sector could also benefit, as they can be incorporated into garments, bags and even into tents to charge portable electronic devices like mobile phones or music players.
The growing demand for panels, and especially the material necessary to manufacture them, mono or multicrystalline silicon, has meant that the final price of the installation has been increasing to levels in which the time required to see a return on the investment is longer than even the durability or warranty period of the solar panels.
Apart from the price, traditional photovoltaic technology based on bulky, heavy, opaque and dark silicon panels is also being rejected by the construction sector. Architects, obliged by law to include them in buildings, cannot find easy ways to integrate them, limiting their location to places with little visual impact like roofs.
Therefore, one of the most innovative lines of research worldwide is the search for new materials that can fulfil the function of converting sunlight into electricity, and also solve the integration and availability problems with the current technology. A group of researchers from Ikerlan-IK4 has manufactured a photovoltaic panel on a laboratory scale that meets all the expectations.
The panel has been made from plastic materials –known as organic polymers- which are made in chemical laboratories and therefore have practically limitless availability. But what is without doubt more impressive is their appearance and design. They can be manufactured in different colours, and consist of a fine layer of plastic that can be deposited on practically any type of surface, either rigid or flexible. The versatility, the simplicity of the manufacturing processes and the low cost of this technology mean that the fields of application are only limited by the imagination of the researchers and industrial promoters.
The sector that will benefit most may be precisely the construction sector, as this technology enables semi-transparent windows to be made, as well as the textiles sector, as chargers for portable electronic devices, like mobile telephones or music players can be incorporated in clothing garments, bags and even tents for camping lovers.
Ikerlan is currently working on alternative designs to produce panels with a larger area that can be used for different applications, from small panels to replace the batteries in portable electronic equipment to big modules that can be fitted on roofs or facades with no visual impact and in harmony with the architecture of the building and surroundings.
http://www.ikerlan.es