Spray on solar Cells

  Will Spray-On Solar Cells Transform the World?
  By <a href="http://www.free-articles-zone.com/author/3295">-- --
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  The sun is our best source of biofriendly, renewable energy. While solar cells, also known as photovoltaic (PV) cells have been around for decades, their expense and rigid glass-based construction has limited their application mostly to rooftops of buildings. However, in recent years new solar cells have been made with polymers (plastic) instead of glass. This plastic material can be sprayed onto surfaces, just like paint, which opens many promising possibilities.
To begin with, these plastic-based solar devices can be applied to fabrics. They are flexible enough to be sown onto or woven into clothes, such as sweaters or jackets. Solar backpacks already exist and can be used to keep portable devices such as laptops charged. But soon your coat should be able to keep your cell phone charged as well.
Sunlight delivers 10,000 times more energy than we need, according to National Geographic. And, with the added advantage of the polymer solar cells being that they are cheap, the possibility exists of future large-scale “solar farms” placed in deserts that would fill most of the world’s energy needs. In the more immediate future, photovoltaic coatings can be applied cheaply to roofs and windows to provide power for appliances in the home. (1)
Theoretically, polymer solar devices can also become more efficient than the glass-based cells, because they are capable of capturing the infrared spectrum of sunlight, which constitutes about half of the sun’s radiant energy.
Polymer photovoltaic cells open up many vistas of new possibilities. Not only can they be manufactured inexpensively, solar cells can now even be printed on surfaces with inkjet printers, as recently demonstrated by Konarka, an innovative manufacturer of solar devices. (2)
Japan has big plans for solar power. While their current solar power generation amounts to less than one percent, they expect solar energy to fill 50% of their power needs by the year 2030. And in the USA, a Palo Alto, California, company has built the world’s largest solar cell manufacturing facility, gearing up to produce enough solar cells each year to deliver as much as 430 megawatts of electrical power. (3)
Solar energy, of course, is the ultimate clean renewable energy source. The sun has been shining on planet Earth for millions of years and we may as well take advantage of some of that sunlight to fill our energy needs. Not only will harnessing solar energy benefit industrialized nations by reducing greenhouse emissions and pollution; with cheap renewable energy, less developed countries will have a much better opportunity to create a workable infrastructure and raise their living standard.
Effective use of solar energy, along with other renewable energy sources, holds much promise for a brighter future. For the time being, however, we are largely dependent on fossil fuels for our energy needs. Biofriendly Corporation, manufacturer of the Green Plus® liquid fuel catalyst, contributes to a greener planet by providing internal combustion engines with a cleaner, more linear burn, which improves fuel economy, reduces harmful emissions and improves performance.
For more information about Green Plus, visit the Biofriendly website at http://www.biofriendly.com/.

References:
(1)http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2005/01/0114_050114_solarplastic.html
(2)http://www.konarka.com/news_and_events/press_releases/2008/3_march/0304_ink.php
(3)http://www.technologyreview.com/read_article.aspx?ch=specialsections&sc=solar&id=17025&a

  Author, Peter Verhoeff, contributes articles on environmental issues for Biofriendly Corporation. More information on these and other topics can be found on the Biofriendly site.
 
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