But some scientists say it will eventually be possible to print photovoltaic elements on a huge range of surfaces and materials creating cheap printable solar cells in place of more costly silicon panels.
Printable paper solar panels.
It s a perfectly green and biodegradable source of renewable energy.
They re using off the shelf desktop inkjet printers to print paper solar panels that can power small devices and wearable technology.
A printer in the clayton office of csiro has made prototypes of the panels in order to work on the efficiency of the solar cells.
Traditional solar cells start as polysilicon which is melted and infused with boron to create a semiconductor.
Konarka technologies has just.
Print your own on an inkjet.
This will allow solar cells to be much cheaper and be placed almost anywhere.
It may still seem far fetched to imagine our houses powered by solar cells in curtains blinds and windows.
If you like the idea of solar power but aren t convinced by expensive clunky solar panels just yet here s a more manageable option.
Low cost printable solar panels offer ray of hope amid energy gridlock australian physicist says technology could make signing up for energy accounts as easy as a mobile phone subscription.
Paper thin solar cells on paper can now be produced with inkjet printing.
The efficiency of these printable solar panels is still an issue since they are 10 times less efficient than most solar panels which are currently available on the market.
Researchers at the king abdullah university of science and technology have developed solar panels that are thin enough to be printed with inkjet light enough to rest on a soap bubble.