Supple solar panels
But cooking up the new coat is only half the battle. The other half is how the new fabrics wear their solar coating - they must perform well, as well as look good.
'Fabrics are so flexible that they can easily break the coatings - just a tiny gap means you get no power. We've found that coating bundles of fibres rather than just a surface coat, gives the best results.' John Wilson, Heriot-Watt University
The next stage for the team is to work on the light-catching properties of the cells to make them just as efficient as their inflexible friends.
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| Glass fibre fabric performs well as well as looking good |
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