Deaths-head Jester

About:
[The Project]
[The ApocaDocs]
[Equal Share]
The Six Scenarios:
[Species Collapse]
[Infectious Disease]
[Climate Chaos]
[Resource Depletion]
[Biology Breach]
[Recovery]
Explore:

Play:

It's weekly, funny, and free!

SEARCH

More than 5,600 stories!

A great gift
for crisis deniers!


The ApocaDocs have a Book!
Humoring the Horror of the
Converging Emergencies
94 color pages
$24.99 now $15!
Or read FREE online!




Twitter




Ping this story
in social media:
del.icio.us
Digg
Newsvine
NowPublic
Reddit
Facebook
StumbleUpon

Posted Tue Apr 13 2010: from New Scientist:
Skip the hard cell: Flexible solar power is on its way http://apocadocs.com/s.pl?1271165690
So, the sceptics say, solar cells are only ever likely to be a small, disproportionately expensive part of our future energy mix. In the temperate, oft-cloudy climes of much of Europe and North America, satisfying the population's electricity needs with photovoltaics alone would mean plastering something like 5 to 15 per cent of the land surface with them. Such criticisms might be tempered by a new generation of solar cells about to flop off the production line. Slim, bendy and versatile, they consume just a fraction of the materials - and costs - of a traditional photovoltaic device. They could be just the fillip solar power needs, opening the way to a host of new applications: solar-charged cellphones and laptops, say, or slimline generators that sit almost invisibly on a building's curved surfaces or even its windows.... So why the fuss, if these devices are no more efficient than what went before? The key is that although these cells are merely as efficient as conventional devices, they use only about a hundredth of the material. What's more, they are highly flexible: grown on a bed of silicon, Atwater's microrod arrays can simply be peeled off and stuck pretty much wherever you want. "They could even be integrated into buildings, as components that match the shape of roof tiles," says Atwater.
[Read more stories about: alternative energy, efficiency increase, low-energy future]

New!:
No reader quips yet -- be the first!

Got a PaniQuip?

Your Quip (limit 140 characters, no links, just wit):

First name:

The text shown in the Web image to the right:


We reserve the right to reuse, remove, or refuse any entry.

'Doc Michael says:
I'd even pay ten times a hundredth of the price.

NEXT>
More stories:
  • Peruvian glacier split triggers deadly tsunami
  • 'Growing concern' over marketing tainted beef
  • (Skip the hard cell: Flexible solar power is on its way)
  • Confidential document reveals Obama's hardline US climate talk strategy
  • Burnt e-waste raises health alarm for locals

  • Want to explore more?
    Try the PaniCloud!
    Copyright 2010 The Apocadocs.com