Maybe not yet...but they will

You took the words directly out of my mouth and completely beat me to the punch. They'll outlaw the technology for sure. And the thing is it could eventually be used for all kinds of wonderful things, like possibly being imbedded in a covering for cars that could convert energy from the sun into power to drive the motor.

Let's hope that the GOP is forced to keep their hands off it.

I've often thought of something like this. Weave this thread into the sails of ocean capable or island hopping boats. Sails have huge surface area. Use the solar energy you collect to charge batteries. Even in calm seas you could run off electric engines.

that would be cool.

peace,
Noodleboy

But I love the idea of something 70-80 ft long, two masted, large cabin. Using the wind is free, and if the sails also power your onboard electronics, navigation computers, galley equipment, etc you would rarely have to go into port.

I've been brainstorming idea for some type of commercial vessel, but I don't think it would ever be feasible.

peace,
Noodelboy

could be adapted to fishing or scientific research vessels as well, particulary as the technology advances.

Peace to you,

Uncle Joe

Make the blades of a windmill out of this. Not only capture the wind, but the sun.

and why not parking lot surfaces and roads too

And immersing it in a material might be difficult.


I mean, we can already print low-efficiency solar cells out of the same kind of plastic as a soda bottle, so would could in theory just unroll sheets of the stuff from the rooftops. Dunno how the cost-benefit analysis would work, though.

Rolled onto roofs, into sidewalks and roads, etc.

Big oil does not take this kind of crap kindly.....

Application-specific requirements for future lighting, displays and photovoltaics will include large-area, low-weight and mechanical resilience for dual-purpose uses such as electronic skin, textiles and surface conforming foils. Here we demonstrate polymer-based photovoltaic devices on plastic foil substrates less than 2??m thick, with equal power conversion efficiency to their glass-based counterparts. They can reversibly withstand extreme mechanical deformation and have unprecedented solar cell-specific weight. Instead of a single bend, we form a random network of folds within the device area. The processing methods are standard, so the same weight and flexibility should be achievable in light emitting diodes, capacitors and transistors to fully realize ultrathin organic electronics. These ultrathin organic solar cells are over ten times thinner, lighter and more flexible than any other solar cell of any technology to date.

http://www.nature.com/ncomms/journal/v3/n4/full/ncomms1772.html?WT.ec_id=NCOMMS-20120403

Article in Nature Communications is available for free. Conversion efficiency is in the 4 to 5% range. These may be useful for applications where weight is a factor, such as powering weather balloons.

I've been excited so many times about new green technology, but it never seems to become available.

what if it were weaved around strands of fiber optic bristles. Instead of a flat solar panel, you'd have a fuzzy, or bristle brush surface, that could condense solar power on the outside and inside of a single strand, times a million+ strands per panel, times several panels on your roof.

That would be a very nice concentration of energy per panel.

-p

good news