Japanese solar-cell fabric to produce own energy

6 years ago by in Featured, Technology

solar cell fabricJapanese researchers invented a special type of solar-cell fabric which, when exposed to sun, can constantly produce green energy, even when a person is wearing it.

The cloth is made of small and thin solar cells that can produce enough energy for the wearers to charge their phones or laptops with their t-shirts and trousers.

However, the fabric is not on the market yet and it still needs to be improved before being suitable for wearing, the inventors say.

“We still have things to solve before commercialization, such as coating for the conductive wires and improving the fabric’s durability,” said an official at the Industrial Technology Center in central Japan’s Fukui Prefecture.

“But we’ve already been contacted by electronics makers and others who showed interested in our invention.”

The fabric was made with the contribution of a Kyoto-based solar cell maker and other private companies, according to the official.

Green energy is redrawing Japan’s attention after the country went through a devastating tsunami and nuclear accident at Fukushima last year. The international press described Fukushima’s disaster as “the worst nuclear accident in a generation”.