Printing solar panels

Nanosolar have invented solar panels that are produced by printing ink onto them.

Printing is a simple, fast, and robust coating process that in particular eliminates the need for expensive high-vacuum chambers and the kinds of high-vacuum based deposition techniques from industries where there’s a lot more $/sqm available for competitive manufacturing cost.

The article mentions a new milestone in production output (1 gigawatt per year) and the possibility of increasing printing speed.

Meanwhile, Australian PhD student Nicole Kuepper has won an award for developing solar cells that can be produced at low temperature and with cheap materials such as aluminium and nail polish (query acetone). She has developed

a revolutionary solar cell that can be manufactured at low temperatures using everyday items like a pizza oven, nail polish and an inkjet printer.

Solar power is becoming increasingly viable. Cheap solar is around the corner.