A recent Italian research brings forward the development of flexible solar cells: we’ll use them on clothes and on everyday objects to recharge electronic devices.
Among the most popular dreams in the digital age in which we live there is that of recharging technological devices without having to connect cables and without having to keep them resting on a surface, as required, for example, by wireless recharging. In other words, many are dreaming of the ultimate in convenient charging.
To achieve this goal we will need to wait a few more years but in the meantime a big help could come from flexible solar cells, at least to stop walking around looking for an electrical outlet or with a charger or a bulky powerbank in tow. Being flexible, these solar cells that researchers from the Physics Department of the Politecnico di Milano, in collaboration with other Italian and foreign institutes and universities, have made so efficient that their large-scale application is not far off, could soon arrive on any object, from umbrellas on the beach to car roofs, even on clothes.
Recent advances on flexible solar cells
Before the progress in the field of solar energy enhancement that led to the development of flexible solar cells, whose recent Italian evolution has found space in the well-known scientific journal Nature, such applications were unthinkable: the traditional solar cells composed mainly of silicon have in fact a very rigid structure and for this reason they are not always easy to position: usually you use roofs, or metal frames on the ground, for this reason.
Le celle solari flessibili di Politecnico di Milano e Cnr rispondono a queste ed altre difficoltà, potendo potenzialmente rappresentare una valida alternativa a quelle tradizionali in quanto a costi, impatto ambientale e versatilità di applicazione.
In assoluto le celle solari flessibili non sono una scoperta recente, ma la dedizione dei ricercatori in quattro anni di lavoro ha permesso di superare le criticità in termini di efficienza che derivano dai materiali organici utilizzati per dare flessibilità alle celle solari che potrebbero così trovare moltissime applicazioni pratiche, in un futuro non troppo lontano.
I vantaggi delle celle solari flessibili
Alcuni dei vantaggi che potremo ottenere con le celle solari flessibili:
- ingombri: pur con il limite di una potenza non elevata, che per questo tipo di prodotto non dovrebbe superare i 200 watt, le celle solari flessibili occuperanno superfici molto ridotte rispetto ai pannelli tradizionali e avranno spessori inferiori
- leggerezza: un pannello fotovoltaico rigido supera spesso i 20 kg, le celle solari flessibili rimangono al di sotto dei 3 kg, ma con l’ottimizzazione ed il progresso tecnologico potrebbero pesare anche poche centinaia di grammi
- ecosostenibilità: although the single recharge of small technological objects does not require, by far, a large amount of electricity, their widespread diffusion and constant use on a large scale has a non-negligible impact that can be reduced when flexible solar cells are used in a massive way
The applications of flexible solar cells
In addition to the potentially infinite number of objects on which flexible solar cells will be placed to obtain energy from the sun, we will have an environmentally sustainable solution with which to recharge any object, so smartphones, tablets, PCs, cameras, power banks and more.
With the more powerful versions you can also power lamps, stoves and small appliances in general, but also recharge single-wheelers and electric scooters or other small vehicles for sustainable mobility.