New Roll-Up Solar Panels

MIT Technology Review reports on an Ohio startup that has succeeded in manufacturing thin-film silicon solar cells that can be mass produced in long rolls and installed on roofs and building facades. The company, Xunlight of Toledo, Ohio, has produced solar film affixed to thin sheets of stainless steel that can be manufactured in rolls 18 feet long and roughly three feet wide. Such amorphous thin-film solar cells are highly inefficient, but Xunlight has boosted their efficiency by using three different materials that absorb energy from different parts of the solar spectrum, the MIT publication said. Still, the efficiency of Xunlight’s solar panel sheets is only about 8 percent, compared to the 20 percent efficiency of some conventional solar panels. The advantage of Xunlight’s product is that it can be installed in large quantities on a variety of building surfaces and at a lower price than conventional solar panels, Technology Review said.