Printable solar technology heralds 'electronic revolution'

The CSIRO is developing solar cells that can be printed out by the metre, like banknotes. Scientists say the cells would be printed onto large areas of flexible light plastic using technology already developed by CSIRO for the latest banknote production.

The cost of current solar cell technology remains an obstacle for domestic households. The CSIRO's Dr Gerry Wilson says once the printable cells reach the market in about five years, the cells will probably be much more efficient and cost effective: “In the print trials that we’re conducting today, these printers typically run at 200 m a minute, which is 100 km per day. If you were printing a solar cell that had only 10% efficiency, say, then we calculate that over five months, you'd be able to print enough plastic solar cells to generate a gigawatt of power.”

Dr Wilson says the technology could end up being used within the windows of houses or any other solid frontage like walls, in addition to being put on the roof, heralding an electronic revolution: “Because we can lay down these polymer films with different thicknesses, we could make them transparent or semi-transparent so even windows or architectural features could all be used.”

He also says the technology could even, in principle, be used on water: “These plastic films that we're making now also float, so you don't necessarily have to be constrained to putting them on land. When you consider the amount of water we lose through evaporation on dams, wouldn't it be smart to put a whole heap of films on top of your dam?”