MIT Makes a Super Thin Solar Cell That Can Turn Any Surface into a Power Plant

MIT engineers have achieved a significant advancement in solar technology by creating an ultralight fabric solar cell. These cells, much thinner than a human hair and weighing only one-hundredth the weight of standard solar panels, can transform almost any surface into a power source. Remarkably, they produce 18 times more power-per-kilogram compared to traditional solar panels due to the use of semiconducting inks and scalable printing processes. The new generation of these solar cells is produced using electronic inks and are entirely printable. They are constructed using a slot-die coater to deposit nanomaterial layers onto a 3-micron thick substrate. The final solar module, after adding an electrode through screen printing, is about 15 microns thick. However, these modules are fragile, leading MIT to use Dyneema, a super-strong fabric, as a substrate. Adhering the solar cells to Dyneema with UV-curable glue results in a durable, lightweight solar structure. In tests, these cells on Dyneema generated about 370 watts-per-kilogram, 18 times more than conventional solar cells. Their lightweight nature implies a smaller ecological footprint compared to traditional solar panels, reducing solar waste. Moreover, they maintained over 90% of their power generation capability after being rolled and unrolled 500 times. Challenges remain in protecting them from environmental damage, and the team is exploring ultrathin packaging solutions. Join our YouTube channel by clicking here: Find us on Instagram: Find us on Facebook: Find us on Twitter: Find us on TikTok: Get the latest stories: Support IE for high-quality journalism: