A team of engineers at the Gwangju Institute of Science and Technology in South Korea have reportedly developed a new kind of ultra-thin, bendable solar cell capable that could be used to power fitness trackers, smart glasses and other kinds of wearable technology. Their photovoltaic technology is said to be flexible enough to wrap around the average pencil. The solar cell is approximately one micrometer thick, or thinner than the typical human hair. In contrast, standard photovoltaics are usually several hundred times thicker, and even other kinds of thin cells are at least twice as big. The thinness of the material makes it easier to flex because it has less material at the farthest ends of the central plane than thicker photovoltaic sheets. Lee’s team constructed the solar cells from a semiconducting material called gallium arsenide, and stamped them directly onto a flexible substrate without using an adhesive, as doing so would have increased the thickness of the material. http://www.redorbit.com/news/technology/1113414644/flexible-solar-cells-062016/
In the future maybe shirt and pants logos could be made of this ultra-thin bendable solar cell material and charge the wearers devices while they are in the sun.
I was thinking(not about logos) about it(cloths made of thin PV)yesterday but often we wash our shirt and pants. May be it could damage the thin PV cell, so I didn't post any reply about it. But to airplanes and others is good that I think.
OMG ! Now I think we should use it on rainless planet like marsPlease Register or Log in to view the hidden image!
I am sure we could develop a protective coating for the thin bendable PV solar cells and increase their malleability or bendability, so that washing them does not break the solar cells apart, but maybe using them as logos of shirts or pants is not a very good idea.
