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Solar cells printed on paper
Fold them, ship them, install them with ease
NANCY W. STAUFFER
DECEMBER 22, 2011
MITEI
20111222-2
From left to right: Professor Karen Gleason, graduate students Miles Barr and Jill Rowehl, and Professor Vladimir Bulovic ́, working with others at MIT, have developed methods of depositing photovoltaic (PV) cells on sheets of ordinary paper and other inexpensive, lightweight, flexible materials. Inside the vacuum chambers shown behind them, they use a novel process to "vapor print" anodes that are integrally linked to the surface of the paper. In another lab, they use evaporative methods to deposit the remaining layers of the PV cells, producing solar arrays that can—even when folded—power small electronic devices. Photo: Stuart Darsch
Imagine a future in which solar cells are everywhere around you—on your window shades, in your laptop cover, in your clothing, perhaps even on a folded slip of paper that you carry in your pocket and take out when you want to charge your cell phone or other electronic gadget.
That’s the future that several MIT researchers envision. Using a novel process involving moderate temperatures and no liquids, they’ve printed photovoltaic (PV) cells on tissue paper, printer paper, newsprint, textiles, and even plastic food wrap. They’ve made solar devices that are low-cost, lightweight, flexible, and durable—features that make them ideal not only for integrating into consumer products but also for shipping to remote regions of the world where energy demand is growing rapidly and there’s no power grid in sight.