writeaboutwarming

February 18, 2013 - Falling under the heading of "Science Fiction No More," materials scientists now say we are within two years of commercial development of use-anywhere solar panels.  Because the price of solar cells has fallen at a rate of 6% annually since 1998,  money is no longer an object.  The second roadblock to mass production was also financial: the cost of installation.  With the advent of cheap, durable materials being used to manufacture flexible solar cells, that roadblock will soon be dismantled. In fact, scientists at MIT are working on this next generation of solar panels.  They are organic, thin-film cells, made from abundant, "robust" materials that can be produced inexpensively, relative to first-generation silicon cells.  Coupled with ongoing research at Stanford, where engineers are bent on producing a peel-off solar panel, the days of static solar sources of energy appear to be numbered.  The Stanford prototype adheres to ...