Solar Power Clothing?

Those of us who believe in solar power tout it for just about everything, but solar powered clothing? It looks like it could be on its way to the shelves sooner rather than later.

The idea of solar powered clothing actually isn’t that odd. Think about it. What if you could sit down for a latte and jack your BlackBerry into a jack in your shirt? It almost sounds like something you would see in a Hollywood movie portraying the future. 

The problem with such a scenario is, of course, that we don’t have any solar application that could possibly work like that. Solar panels are simple to bulky and are not exactly flexible. The average solar powered shirt would be akin to wearing a cardboard box! 

Or would it?

Researchers at the University of Southern California have hit upon something very interesting. They’ve been playing around with the organic compound grapheme. It used to be hard to make, but a recent innovation has made it easy and cheap to produce. The scientists have found that they can use it as a base compound for, you guessed it, solar panels. 

The big advantage of the grapheme solar panel is the characteristics of the material. It is extremely thin with some measurements as thin as 4 atoms. It is also very flexible. There is a major downside, however. The organic solar cells are much less efficient than what we currently see on the market, which isn’t all that efficient anyway. The grapheme based cells convert energy at about a 1 percent rate. That may sound puny, but keep in mind scientists have only been playing with this panel idea for six months. Imagine what they may come up with in another six months?!

Should you expect solar power clothing in your local mall this Christmas shopping season? I wouldn’t count on it. That being said, we could start seeing products within two years. Just think, now you will have a legitimate reason to go to the beach!