Nanosolar Powersheets

Imagine a solar panel without the panel. Just a coating, thin as a layer of paint, that takes light and converts it to electricity. From there, you can picture roof shingles with solar cells built inside and window coatings that seem to suck power from the air.

That’s what is being said at PopSci about the Nanosolar Powersheets. There have been rumours of something akin to this for a few years now but it looks like someone finally pulled it off. What is it you ask? Well give it a few years and you can print solar panels at home, but for now a company called PowerSheet is printing solar cells with a printing press style machine that sets down a layer of nano-ink onto foil thin metal sheets.  As you can imagine, this greatly reduces the costs, reportedly for about a tenth of what current panels cost. With backing from Google’s founders and $20 million from the U.S. Department of Energy, Nanosolar’s first commercial cells rolled off the presses this year.

For more information be sure to see Popular Science website and make sure to watch the slideshow at the bottom of the page!