Wouldn’t it be handy if the wallpaper in your living room could supply the power for your lighting fixtures or television? It could happen, thanks to researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). They’ve created the world’s first solar cells that can be printed onto paper, plastic or fabric in a process that they say is not too much more complex or expensive than regular inkjet printing. And the cells are flexible enough to still work after being folded 1,000 times.
The process isn’t ready for prime time yet, as efficiency is only 1 percent so far. But the researchers hope to better that as they experiment with different materials.
Read more (and watch a video of the cells in action) at CNET.