University of Newcastle (UON) researchers may have achieved a breakthrough in creating solar cells on flexible plastic made in a roll-to-roll process with an unbelievably low price and equally incredible sensitivity. They seem to have succeeded where an American firm failed half a decade ago. Printed solar cells were first attempted about a decade ago, with Konarka trying to make solar cells on simple ink-jet printers. The company failed, despite having a Nobel Prize winner and other top physicist and chemists overseeing the process. The “cells” never achieved more than about four- or five-percent efficiency and their plastic substrate deteriorated rapidly. Today, The University of Newcastle in New South Wales, Australia, and CHEP, a client firm, are displaying their thin-cell, recyclable plastic solar film that can be stuck to things with double-sided tape. Used initially to monitor response to different solar conditions, the recently-installed film shows some highly-desirable characteristics. Professor Paul Dastoor claims, “Our printed solar solution continues to function …
