Flexible cells on roofs to windows to cars to even clothing could provide another energy source

But imagine that awning is doing more than shielding

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you from the sun – imagine it is also garnering the sun's energy to power your phone, your tablet and even your hairdryer – your entire site, in fact. And when it's time to go home, you simply roll it up and pop it in the back of the car.

Sound far-fetched? With new technology currently under development at the University of Melbourne, it may only be a couple of years away.

Based at research institute Bio21, the team responsible are world leaders in the development of organic photovoltaics (OPVs) – printable lightweight, flexible solar cells. The cells are so pliable they can effectively turn any surface into a solar array – from buildings, to vehicles or even clothing.

The pioneering technology was developed by Laureate Professor Andrew Holmes AM with significant recent advances by research group leader Dr David Jones from the School of Chemistry and Bio 21.

It now features a new kind of high performance light-harvesting material with unusual crystallisation, which aligns its molecules to improve performance. Moreover, OPVs can be produced en masse at low cost, simply by being printed on large plastic sheets, using standard commercial printers.

Read more at: https://phys.org/news/2016-10-flexible-cells-roofs-windows-cars.html#jCp