Researchers at the Australian National University have teamed up with Spark Solar Australia and Finland-based Braggone Oy todevelop a cheaper, more efficient,spray-on solar panel. Unlike the roll-on solar project going on at Swansea in Wales, these "spary-on" panels wouldn't be applied to your house in liquid form. Instead, the spray-on aspect of these panels refers to a change in the manufacturing process.Conventional solar panels are manufactured through a complex process involving vacuums, hydrogen in plasma form, silicon, and other expensive junk like that. This process is what makes solar photovoltaics so darn expensive. If ANU's research pans out, PV panels could be manufactured by simply spraying on a hydrogen film and then a anti-reflective film on a conveyor belt. Not only would these panels be much cheaper, but researchers are also hopeful that they can achieve greater energy gathering efficiency that conventional panels by experimenting with alternative materials. Heck, even if the efficiency isn't one bit better, we could all afford to by more panels. So, it's a win-win.
[via Clean Technica]
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