Electricity From Solar Power Paint!
Installing solar panels on the roof of every new building in the world would go a long way towards solving our energy needs, but as we all know, solar panels are costly and often difficult to install. But what if the solar panel was an integral part of every building? What if solar cells could be painted on building products? Well, according to a team from Swansea University this type of technology will soon be coming to a hardware store near you.
If that could be done it would have the potential to revolutionise the solar power industry. Isn’t it amazing that we can come up with such ingenious solutions to problems we face in these uncertain times? The human race has the knowledge, resources and ingenuity to overcome complex issues such as global warming. If only the politicians would realise this and pump some money into research and development. Just imagine if they put as much money into developing things like this as as they have into things like the Iraq war! Come on Gordon, wake up!
The Swansea Solar Paint project is led by Dave Worsley, who, together with his team, were researching ways to make make steel last longer. By chance that they started to focus on the degradation of paints in steel surfaces, when they realized that their research could lead them to develop a new way of getting energy from the sun.
Often it is these chance discoveries which lead to really useful innovations. Just imagine the surface area available in the average city which could be converted into electricity generating solar surfaces. I truly believe that with enough application we could evolve into a sustainable civilization as far as our energy consumption goes. In fact the logical conclusion to all of this is going to be the necessity to evolve into an energy neutral society. Has anybody claimed the buzzword ‘energy neutral’ yet or can I have it? 
The idea is to coat every piece of steel cladding with a solar cell paint. As steel is passed through the rollers multiple coatings of of the solar cell system are applied to it. Based on the preliminary research, the materials that are being applied are suited to capturing low level solar radiation, which means that they should work just as well in areas where the sun doesn’t directly shine on them.
This sounds like quite an expensive material but I suppose if enough people were to use it then the costs would come down, as with all these things. While resources are still being pumped into traditional forms of energy generation and unbelievably, nuclear power, it can be very difficult for these emerging technologies to grab a foothold in the market. Also, as more and more companies jump on the green bandwagon with motives that go no further than putting more dollars in the bank a culture of competition can be created amongst researchers with the end result being a slower advancement of these technologies. Different research teams effectively fight each other for the prize!
We must join forces to overcome the old ways!
Tags: paint on solar cells, solar paint, solar power web hosting
March 26th, 2008 at 11:27 am
Truly awesome - I hope I can buy a can or 2 or 3 or 4 or 5…..someday soon =)
Keep us posted.
Debs
March 26th, 2008 at 7:18 pm
I understand the statement that you are making as well as your appreciation for new technology, however, your entire argument is based on an assumption that more money equals fast reliable results when the truth is that this “paint technology” (not sure how to refer to it) was most likely the result of years if not decades of day-in day-out toil of research scientists. I agree with your claims that the use of this technology will help to partially reduce the environmental impact of people in the future. Unfortunately your argument is logically flawed especially when blaming the government for not immediately investing all military expenditures in an experimental technology that achieves the same end as other further developed technologies. I would suggest that you Google tidal (electricity)generators being built off the coast of Korea as a test before they are built in the English channel. I believe that the government did fund part of that experimental technology.
March 26th, 2008 at 9:03 pm
i have a few panels ,……… best damn thing i done since i quit drinking ,haha JK but really they are costly but pay for themselves quickly
March 26th, 2008 at 10:27 pm
Hey Drew. More money usually does mean faster results. The paint was discovered by chance and had not been in the research stage for “decades”. I didn’t suggest that the government immediately invest all military expenditure, if you read my comments. That would be silly. I’m saying there needs to be a general shift in mindset on the governments’ part. I mean, nuclear power? Please!
Tidal power is indeed a very exciting one and you’d have to agree that if more resources were pumped into these developments we’d get closer to our goals, quicker. But no. We have to invest how ever many billions in LNG terminals and nuclear power. That’s just backward thinking.
April 1st, 2008 at 12:42 am
I’d really like to get into using solar power, I live in Serre Chevalier in the French Alps and we get 300 days of sunshine a year, so it would be cool to use the stuff! FYI http://www.serrechevalier.org is the site I made about this beautiful sunny place.
April 1st, 2008 at 12:43 am
[…] material can be used as a paint and could convert existing surfaces into energy generation units.read more | digg […]
May 27th, 2008 at 10:52 pm
Big oil has been suppressing these technologies for decades. We desperately need cottage industry to take the lead or we’ll never get there. Does anyone know the formula? We need to get it out there so people can start working on it in private (as I assume big oil owns patents on it). Thanks for the post!
November 12th, 2008 at 2:46 am
I love the idea of solar paint but it seems like one of those things that is “ten years away” from implementation. Hydrogen power is stuck in the “ten years” trap and has been there for decades now. Every now and then there is some announcement about solar paint that billed as a breakthrough, but then there is always the inevitable “promises that in a few years…”…sigh…oh well, not yet I guess.