Summary Solar power is helping bring about a future of cleaner energy, but there are limits to where rigid solar panels can go. A new kind of flexible solar cell made with a mineral called perovskite can go a
Solar power is helping bring about a future of cleaner energy, but there are limits to where rigid solar panels can go. A new kind of flexible solar cell made with a mineral called perovskite can go almost anywhere, says physicist Olga Malinkiewicz. We can use perovskite cells on the facets of the building, on the roofs of the buildings, on the roofs of the cars, on the electronic devices, small electronic devices. We can use it on the sails. We can use it in the balls, tents, unlimited applications. Malinkiewicz says perovskite has become a favorite among solar panel researchers. The advantage of the perovskite solar cell is that it can be lightweight and flexible. And it can be printed, so it’s very cheap. Everyone can use it on every surface.
Malinkiewicz developed a way to print perovskite panels like an inkjet printer. She co-founded a company to produce them, called Soleil Technologies, after the Baltic sun goddess. Construction company Skanska is testing the panels at their Warsaw headquarters. Adam Targowski is sustainable development manager for Skanska. They work perfectly, even when they are not well exposed to sunlight. So we can use them all facets of the building. Soleil calculates that about one square meter of panel can supply a day’s worth of power for one worker’s computer and lights. And they keep getting better as research continues, says the company’s scientific director Konrad Wojciechowski.
For other technologies, it took decades to really enter like into some markets. Perovskite has been around only for few years in scientific research, so there is still a lot to be done, but potential is basically pretty much unlimited, I think. There are still durability and other problems to work out, but several companies expect to have perovskite panels on the market this year.
