FRIDAY 20 FEBRUARY, 2009 | Australia's Printable Solar Cells
Victorian Minister for Energy and Resources, Peter Batchelor,
announced yesterday the beginning of trials to print solar cells
using technology developed by the CSIRO, a partner in the
Victorian Organic Solar Cell Consortium project. Mr. Batchelor
stated the production of the polymer solar cells will be
literally as easy as printing money. The process uses elements
of the technology employed in the production of Australia's
According to the CSIRO's Gerry , print trials conducted
yesterday ran at 200 metres a minute, which would work out to
100 kilometres per day under normal manufacturing conditions.
Based on the cells attaining 10% efficiency, over 5 months
enough plastic solar cells could be printed to generate a
gigawatt of power. The printable solar cells offer several
advantages over traditional solar panel technology including of
the potential to mass produce the cells cheaply and install them
over large areas with uneven surfaces. The flexibl