Australia produces largest solar cells

Cells are ten times the size of what was previously achieved.

Scientists have produced the largest flexible plastic solar cells in Australia after a new solar cell printer was installed at CSIRO.

The printer has allowed researchers from the Victorian Organic Solar Cell Consortium to print organic PV cells the size of an A3 sheet of paper. Printing cells on such a large scale opens up a huge range of possibilities for pilot applications.

Scientists noted there are so many things they can do with cells this size. The cells can be used for advertising signage, powering lights and other interactive elements and can even be embedded into laptop cases to provide backup power for the machine inside.

Using semiconducting inks, researchers printed the cells straight onto paper-thin flexible plastic or steel.

The organic PV cells, which produce 10–50 watts of power per square metre, could potentially be used to improve the efficiency of more traditional silicon solar panels.