Scientists unveil solar cells the width, flexibility of spider silk (Beautiful!)

Scientists unveil solar cells the width, flexibility of spider silk

Austrian and Japanese researchers on Wednesday unveiled solar cells thinner than a thread of spider silk that are flexible enough to be wrapped around a single human hair. The thin-film device, comprising electrodes on a plastic foil, is about 1.9 micro-metres thick, a tenth the size of the thinnest solar cells currently available, the researchers said. One micro-metre is one millionth of a metre (3.3 feet). “The total thickness of this device is less than a typical thread of spider silk,” the researchers said in a report carried by online science journal Nature Communications. “Being ultra-thin means you don’t feel its weight and it is elastic,” said one of the researchers, Tsuyoshi Sekitani from the University of Tokyo. “You could attach the device to your clothes like a badge to collect electricity (from the sun)… Elderly people who might want to wear sensors to monitor their health would not need to carry around batteries,” Sekitani told AFP.

www.rawstory.com...

IMO this is nothing less than Beautiful, The design to me seems absolutely amazing with so many uses that i can think of just off the top of my head!

So i just had to share this with you guys

I have always had a great interest in Solar power, Mainly for the practical uses it has with the Sailing community on boats, Just imagine an entire boat sail made of this brilliant stuff! A man could sail the world and harness all the energy he needed rather than struggling with a couple of badly placed solar panels on the top deck, Look at me, I'm excited

Very Interesting and I agree that new technology can possess a type of beauty in form and functionality.

With regards to this product, I wonder as to its light absorption efficiency as it was not detailed in the article presented. I foresee this line of technological advancement to be critical in the development of more available energy sources not only on a macro scale, but for the micro scale as well which the article describes as personal use etc.

Whether it be solar energy or energy generated by our bodies, which some technologies take advantage of, in my opinion this will be the foundation on which all future personal technology will probably be based on.

reply to post by MDDoxs


My thoughts are Similar

I image, as with all newly developed technology that it isn't as efficient now as it will be tomorrow, however the path of discovery has been set and it's only a matter of time before the product takes off and people discover it's practical uses

Japan makes all the cool stuff.