Thinnest Solar Cell In The World To Power Wearable Devices

One of the biggest issues with current wearable devices involves the matter of energy, where the devices need to keep getting recharged. This applies to every electronic gadget with a battery, and for years, scientists have been trying to find a way to make said devices more energy efficient. One of the solutions that have proven promising is solar power, and with the 1-micrometer solar cell that was just created, it seems that the time when devices won’t need to be recharged every few hours has finally come.

The flexible solar cell is the thinnest in the world and is 100 times thinner than human hair. This makes the solar cell ideal for devices that need to bend like wearable fitness trackers or smart watches, which are notoriously inefficient. The innovation was made in South Korea by researchers over at Gwangju Institute of Science and Technology.

What makes the thinnest solar cell more promising is the fact that there is no visible stress to its structural integrity even when it is bent around a pencil. More than that, it is also as efficient as or more efficient than standard solar cells, which already makes it a huge asset for wearable devices.

As UPI explains, the solar cell was created via a process called “cold welding” where the parts are fused together using pressure instead of heat. One of the engineers who worked on the project is Jongho Lee and he says that even though their solar cell is 100 times thinner than standard solar cells, it is significantly less fragile and doesn’t lose in terms of efficiency.

The thinness of the solar cells also makes them promising in terms of powering solar panels which have many limitations, one of which is the size of the solar cells. By incorporating the much thinning variety, solar panels can be much more efficient in generating energy.