Inhabitat » Print Solar Cells With an Inkjet Printer

March 10, 2008

Print Solar Cells With an Inkjet Printer

by Jorge Chapa

solar panels, printed solar cells, solar cell, solar power, inkjet solar panels, flexible solar panels, cheap solar panels

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: print your own on an inkjet! Konarka Technologies has just debuted a printable solar panel film that uses a common inkjet printing process to manufacture paper-thin photovoltaic solar cells. Using the existing and very simple technologies of your office inkjet printer, Konarka has essentially replaced ink with the solar cell material, and paper with a thin flexible sheet of plastic.

HERE’S HOW IT WORKS:
Essentially, the head of an inkjet printer deposits a material (ink) into a substrate (paper), and does so in a fairly cheap and quick manner. Konarka’s technique uses the solar cell material as ink, and a thin flexible plastic as paper. According to the company, the process creates solar cells which are almost as good as the clunky silicon ones, created with much more advanced technologies. However, these inkjet babies are much much cheaper.

solar panels, printed solar cells, solar cell, solar power, inkjet solar panels, flexible solar panels, cheap solar panels

“Demonstrating the use of inkjet printing technology as a fabrication tool for highly efficient solar cells and sensors with small area requirements is a major milestone,” stated Rick Hess, president and CEO at Konarka.

Unfortunately we probably won’t be seeing the Inkjet-solar-panel option flying off the shelves of Office Depot just yet, as it is currently only feasible for large productions of solar cells. However, it does mean that if the uptake of this technology happens relatively quickly, you will be seeing solar cells of different sizes and price-points appearing everywhere soon.

+ Konarka Technologies

10 Responses to “Print Solar Cells With an Inkjet Printer”

Zero Energy and Green Building in New Homes | Print Solar Cells With an Inkjet Printer Says:

March 10th, 2008 at 6:12 am

[…] (more…) […]

Hugo Says:

March 10th, 2008 at 6:18 am

Sounds great, but it isn’t as great as it sounds. First, inkjet technology is used, but in a multilayer technology. One needs different layers for negative and possitive conduction, so you can’t just buy a solar cell material cartridge for your officejet for your DIY power station. And a second issue is the lifecycle. Where normal PV panels can last for about 5000 houres of energyproduction, polymer-based solar panels can at present last for about 500 houres of energy production, holding back efficiency.

And how can it be only feasable for large productions and thus not for home use. It only takes a pair of scissors to make a small batch out of a large production. ;-)

Anyway, I’m very eager to see this technology up close and to use it!

Your Obedient Serpent Says:

March 10th, 2008 at 2:44 pm

Isn’t Nanosolar doing essentially the same thing? I’ve seen a couple of articles about Konarka’s announcement last week, and none of them mention that Nanosolar announced something very similar within the last month or two.

oakling Says:

March 10th, 2008 at 5:09 pm

You might be able to make a small batch out of a large production, but I bet that it would be awfully expensive to make a large batch on a home printer, and that it would involve a lot of money for the materials, which only a large production could recoup by selling them - especially if by “large production” they meant “enough for many many many buildings”. Personally, I just hope to be able to get powerful cheap solar panels, of whatever size and kind, by the time I buy my own house! And this sounds like it’s getting us closer….

Silver Surfer Says:

March 10th, 2008 at 11:40 pm

Yes, both Nanosolar and Konarka are doing the same thing - NOT delivering commercial photovoltaics. Both firms are spending enormous amounts of VC money on long-shot technology and neither has delivered real volume product. Konarka especially is about releasing press releases and not delivering anything.

This is Tech » Blog Archive » Print Solar Cells With an Inkjet Printer Says:

March 11th, 2008 at 6:15 pm

[…] Print Solar Cells With an Inkjet Printer: […]

Inhabitat » OLEDs Printed Newspaper Style! Says:

March 12th, 2008 at 7:41 pm

[…] Think printing solar panels is cool? Well, here’s something even cooler. General Electric has just successfully demonstrated a roll-to-roll printing (think newspaper style printing) process for OLEDs. It’s a state-of-the-art process for the production of Organic Light Emitting Diodes that’s high performance, energy efficient, and surprisingly inexpensive. The applications are endless for printing energy efficient light systems of all sizes. Just imagine the design possibilities! […]

Zero Energy and Green Building in New Homes | OLEDs Printed Newspaper Style! Says:

March 13th, 2008 at 12:03 am

Inhabitat » Coastal Fog Tower Harvests Chilean Mist Says:

April 2nd, 2008 at 11:25 am

[…] that benefit from the unique profile of their immediate environment. Whether it be south-facing solar panels or strategically located wind turbines, maximum efficiency is achieved by making the best of a […]

paradigmshift Says:

April 17th, 2008 at 11:39 pm

If we figure in the real cost of oil to our society you realize that a lot of these alternative energy technologies are economical now. the real problem is the financing for these technologies is not readily available. If you could pay 200 dollars a month to buy a systems that you would own in ten years or so and know your energy bill would not ever go up more people buy these systems , its just the up front expense stop the average person.

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