Nicole Kuepper, a 23 year-old Australian scientist has invented a method of making cheap solar cells out of simple materials, that any DIY-er could find in his home.
She has painted a silicon wafer with something like nail polish, then she put the wafer in a modified inkjet printer, and printed a high resolution pattern with a solution that dilutes the nail polish, like acetone. After that, she metalized the entire thing with an aluminum spray and put it into an oven at about 550°F (more or less the temperature at which you bake the pizza), and voili ! There’s the world’s cheapest silicon solar cell!
Watch the video, and if you find out more about her invention of the patterns involved, remember to place a comment here on GreenOptimistic.com, so we can find out how to do that ourselves.
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#1 by Buy inkjet toner online on November 2, 2010 - 4:23 am
hope this technology work great latter on. then I can put some solor cells on my roof.
#2 by Bridget on November 5, 2008 - 5:39 pm
Awesome! Keep up the good work and let us know how to make our own.
#3 by Aaron on October 24, 2008 - 10:34 pm
Look, we already have discussion on your work Nicole…
http://www.energeticforum.com/renewable-energy/3043-inkjet-printed-solar-cells-world-s-cheapest.html
#4 by Aaron on October 24, 2008 - 10:33 pm
Incredible! Come share more details with hundreds of us experimenters at Energetic Forum at http://www.energeticforum.com/renewable-energy !
We want to build this!