Flexible Solar Panels

The newest thing in solar technology is flexible solar panels. Coming in various shapes and sizes, flexible solar panels are taking over in many areas for charging small appliances, all the way up to car batteries. The panels are easily transportable and used in a variety of environments.

People are familiar with solar panels on roofs on commercial and residential buildings. Those panels are large, heavy, and expensive. Flexible solar panels are cropping up in many different ways and places. The reason for that is their versatility and durability. Flexible panels are made of a type of silicon coating that is lighter and applied in thin layers, and that acts as a conductor. These layers allow the panels to utilize either different frequencies of sunlight, and/ or artificial light as well. They change light into 12-volt electricity - enough to run appliances, computers, and batteries for smaller vehicles.

The main parts of these flexible panels come down to the photovoltaic cell these panels become and a converter.

Flexible solar panels are dependent on the weather – working on sunny and perfectly bright days. They come in different sizes ranging from 5 volts to 60 volts.

The sun hits the silicon and is absorbed by it. Scientifically speaking it is the on-going change from a positive charge to a negative charge, which makes the solar panel work.

The advantages of these types of solar panels are many:

1. They are bendable, foldable, and lightweight. They can be used and transported with very little trouble, folding up to 2 inches in diameter.
2. They are durable and reliable.
3. They are inexpensive to make, both in the materials used, and in the process by which they are made. This makes them more affordable for the business and the residential customer.
4. They do not require being used on a flat service, and are effective on a curved or rounded surface.
5. They can be taken from indoor to outdoor use with very little loss of time and use.
6. The energy produced by flexible solar panels is clean, non-polluting energy.
7. Technology has made them more energy efficient, going from converting only 5% of the sun’s energy to a 20% conversion rate within the last few years, according to Solar Sphere.com.

In addition, according to Solar Sphere.com, the use of a new material as a conductor on the solar cell holds even greater promise. CIGS or copper indium gallium (d)selenide has the potential to reduce the mass production cost of making flexible solar panels from $1.00 per watt from $5.00 to watt.

This type of solar panel is in heavy operation today. Moreover, with its increasing popularity it continues to gain strides and be used commercially in many different applications.

According to TreeHugger.com, a company called Solatec LLC introduced solar panels to fit the roof of a hybrid car and help charge the battery. The company is still growing today and is recently promoting its new longer, solar panels for the Prius Hybrid at Solatec LLC.com. These panels produce 24 watts and power auxiliary batteries in the vehicles.

Another company called Earth Care Products has developed a peel-and-stick solar panel that fits the roofs of golf carts and powers them on a continuous basis. They use three different layers of silicon in a flexible base, calling it a triple junction cell. Some golf carts apparently can go for days or weeks with no other charging required.

For hikers and campers they are invaluable to run small appliances including portable radios and re-charging flashlights. The panels are even being used in clothing and in headgear.

Flexible solar panels are here to stay. They are available for purchase via the Internet or through commercial distributors. Start out with one or two and they might be addictive as one finds more and more uses for them around the house, garage, and in the business setting.

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