Australian government encourages printed solar panels

The government previously invested 1.6M$ in a project for the development of cheaper, portable printed solar panels. The project is a cooperation between print shop Norwood Commercial in Melbourne, CSIRO (Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation) and the start-up Solafast. “The project is an extremely exciting project, which sees science partnering with industry in creating jobs and growth potential for Australia. If successful, the 2-year project will help cut down the cost of solar PV and create and environmentally responsible building material that doesn’t compromise architectural integrity” according to Minister of Industry, Greg Hunt.

The printed solar cells are made by printing solar inks into rolls of plastic film using industrial printing equipment. The resulting solar panels are thin, flexible and lightweight, thus they can be incorporated into objects and structures in ways that normal solar panels can’t.