Microwave cooking
The breakthrough is a new way to make solar cells that uses microwaves, not heat, to drive the reaction that creates the thin film of silicon. So the whole process happens at almost room temperature.
'It means we can replace glass with all sorts of fabrics - we're trying woven glass fibres first, but next in line are materials like Gore Tex.' John Wilson, Heriot-Watt University
The silicon coat is created from a gas mixture that spontaneously combusts in air - so the lab have fire extinguishers at the ready.
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| Glass fibre fabric with it's new silicon coat, straight from the 'microwave' kit |
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