Researchers Create Solar Cells that Bend

6/26/2012 By Kathryn L. Heine

Researchers at the Center for Nanoscale Chemical-Electrical-Mechanical Manufacturing Systems (Nano-CEMMS) have succeeded in making silicon solar cells so thin that they can be placed in arrays on flexible substrates to form larger solar cells that bend. These large, bendable solar cells are extremely light, making them easier to transport and install than exiting solar cells. They also work just as efficiently when bent as when flat, so they can be attached to curved or irregular surfaces.

Written by By Kathryn L. Heine

Researchers at the Center for Nanoscale Chemical-Electrical-Mechanical Manufacturing Systems (Nano-CEMMS) have succeeded in making silicon solar cells so thin that they can be placed in arrays on flexible substrates to form larger solar cells that bend. These large, bendable solar cells are extremely light, making them easier to transport and install than exiting solar cells. They also work just as efficiently when bent as when flat, so they can be attached to curved or irregular surfaces. They can even be made transparent, which allows them to be used on windows, and because the microcells are so thin, they require less silicon and are consequently much cheaper to make.

The researchers' results were described in an October 2008 issue of Nature Materials. In March of the same year, the paper'slead author, John Rogers, Founder Professor of Materials Science and Engineering at Illinois, created a stretchable silicon integrated circuit that can wrap around complex shapes such as spheres, body parts and aircraft wings and that can operate during stretching without a reduction in electrical performance. Five months later, he used the technology to create a digital camera that is shaped like the human eye. His most recent work with solar cells was conducted in collaboration with two MechSE researchers: Placid Ferreira, Grayce Wicall Guathier Professor and Director of Nano-CEMMS, and graduate student Paulius Elvikis. Articles about the solar cells have appeared in many news outlets that include Nature, MIT Technology Reviewand The New York Times.


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This story was published June 26, 2012.