We have been dreaming of portable electronics and mini solar booster packs ever since Captain Kirk tapped the star on his chest, and beamed up to his spaceship into the sky. Wearables have been arriving at warp speed lately although battery technology has yet to get traction. Now scientists in South Korea have been whittling away at the problem.
They have discovered how to make bendable energy conversion devices so thin that they can almost bend them double. Their one-micrometer thick photovoltaics are thinner than a human hair, and can bend tightly because there is nothing to bunch up inside the curve.
They stamped their cells directly onto a flexible substrate. Then they cold-welded this to a metal electrode base that doubles as a reflector. This in turn sends stray protons back to the solar cells. We think that’s more than enough technology for today. Class is out. What are we to do with this knowledge?
‘The thinner cells are less fragile under bending, but perform similarly or even slightly better than other photovoltaics,’ Jongho Lee, an engineer at the Gwangju Institute of Science and Technology in South Korea told Science Daily. This could make them ideal for powering hearing aids, and managing sleep apnea better under the blankets. In 2014, MSI and McAfee found 70% of respondents thought wearables could replace a check-up with a physician.
A few months ago Tech First Post reported on a bracelet that projects a smartphone onto the users arm. Onboard sensors read finger movements pushing virtual buttons, making this picture at least, as good as the real thing. This is dramatic stuff.
We are moving to where no ‘man’ has gone before in the Starship Enterprise science fiction series. We are proud to be part of these new photovoltaic frontiers as we report on the unfolding journey.
