A team of Oxford University scientists are applying a coating of a new power-generating material onto the surfaces of everyday objects including rucksacks, cars and mobile phones to generate solar power.

According to the team of scientists, the new light absorbing material is thin and flexible enough to apply to the surface of common objects as well as to any building, and matched the performance of single-layer, energy-generating silicon photovoltaics.

Source: skodonnell/Dorin PuhaSource: skodonnell/Dorin Puha

To accomplish this, the team used a technique developed at Oxford for stacking multiple light-absorbing layers into one solar cell. By doing so, the team has reportedly harnessed a wider range of the light spectrum, thereby allowing for more power to be produced from the same amount of sunlight.

The researchers suggest that by employing this multi-junction approach, the material has reportedly been certified to deliver more than 27% energy efficiency.

“During just five years experimenting with our stacking or multi-junction approach we have raised power conversion efficiency from around 6% to over 27%, close to the limits of what single-layer photovoltaics can achieve today. We believe that, over time, this approach could enable the photovoltaic devices to achieve far greater efficiencies, exceeding 45%,” the researchers reported.

Because the material is just one micron thick — or 150 times thinner than a silicon wafer — it can be applied to virtually any surface, unlike existing photovoltaics that are applied to silicon panels.

The new material, according to the team, is expected to lower the cost of solar as well as make it a more sustainable form of renewable energy.

To contact the author of this article, email mdonlon@globalspec.com