Using Paint Solar Energy Can Be Converted To Electricity

People across the world are trying out various crazy ideas to try and harness the renewable sources of energy to the maximum possible extent and we love every effort that is made in this direction. Some of them might really change the face of the planet, while most efforts just might not make anything beyond a minor difference to the current state of things. But then, every little improvement is really welcome.
Researchers at Swansea University are developing a new, eco-friendly technology that could generate as much electricity as 50 wind farms.

Dr Dave Worsley, a Reader in the Materials Research Centre at the University’s School of Engineering, is investigating ways of painting solar cells onto the flexible steel surfaces commonly used for cladding buildings.

We all know that the sun damages a layer of paint that is exposed to it over long period of times. This very fault of paints has given this unique idea birth. Researchers believe that they can coat the steel with a paint that allows it to produce electricity. To further improve the technology, it is being made in such a fashion that it reacts to even low intensity light.

A research grant from the Welsh Assembly Government’s Welsh Energy Research Centre (WERC) enabled Dr Worsley to work with leading metals group Corus to investigate the feasibility of developing an efficient solar cell system that can be applied to steel building products. The success of the study led to the award of a three-year project worth over £1.5 million by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council.

Paint is applied to steel when it is passed through rollers during the manufacturing process, and it is hoped that the same approach can be used to build up layers of the solar cell system. The researchers’ aim is to produce cells that can be painted onto a flexible steel surface at a rate of 30-40m2 a minute.

Dr Worsley believes that the potential for the product is immense.

Now there is a wonderful example of how success breeds success. If this indeed comes true, then very soon our buildings will be producing all the power we need and that is an amazingly wonderful idea; even if it is just a fantasy.