3D Printable Solar Panels Near Commercialisation

You’ve heard about the frontiers of 3D printing, as well as the cost-efficiency of solar powering and here is an example of the incredibly versatile possibilities they both present.

The average solar panel weighs around 15kg but last year, the Victorian Organic Solar Cell Consortium (VICOSC), a collaboration between the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO), the University of Melbourne, Monash University, BlueScope Steel, Innovia Films and Securency Limited, successfully printed A3-sized solar panels using solar ink on a plastic surface.

In an ABC interview in September this year, Dr Fiona Scholes, senior research scientist at CSIRO spoke of mobile charging possibilities through solar powered casing for electronic accessories.

“iPad covers, laptop bags, skins of iPhone – not just for casing electronics but to collect some energy as well and power those electronics,” she explained.

Dr David Jones, project coordinator for VICOSC and University of Melbourne researcher spoke of the advantageous approach the team had of building on existing printing techniques which makes the technology very accessible, according to CSIRO’s website.

“We’re using the same techniques that you would use if you were screen printing an image on to a t-shirt,” he said.

According to CSIRO, researchers print the cells onto paper-thin flexible plastic or steel with the use of semiconducting inks. The printer can print at speeds of up to 10 metres per minute, meaning one cell every two seconds.

Dr Scholes further detailed the technique of printing onto semi-transparent surfaces, which allows the use of a ‘tinted window scenario,’ ABC reported.

“We would like to improve the efficiency of solar panels – we need to develop solar inks to generate more energy from sunlight,” Dr Scholes said.

The technology has garnered attention from several companies expressing great interest in commercialising it.

“It is very cheap. The way in which it looks and works is quite different to conventional silicon rooftop solar… We would like to improve the efficiency in solar panels – we need to develop solar inks to generate more energy from sunlight,” she told the ABC.