The Herald Sun
By: Peter Familari
New revolutionary solar panels could be just like money in the bank.
A Victorian printing firm will soon begin trials of the ultra-cheap panels made from plastic cells and printed like banknotes.
Mass production of the solar cells will be considerably cheaper than rooftop panels.
They could trim electricity costs by 95 per cent - to 50c a watt compared with $10 a watt for traditional solar cells.
The film-like cells are just the start of a revolution in plastic electronics at CSIRO's Future Manufacturing Flagship group.
Within a decade the FMF's work could see Victorians using iPods, digital cameras and mobile phones with solar cell plastic casing, which would mean the end of replaceable batteries.
Even more futuristic are flexible A4-sized roll-out or fold-out screens that will allow people to watch TV or read a newspaper on their mobile phone.
"We're working with 30 exotic materials, but we'd expect to see the solar cells on the market within five years," said Dr Gerry Wilson, team leader of electroactive materials at the CSIRO.
The $12 million three-year project has been 50 per cent financed by the State Government.
The printable organic solar-cells cement Australia's leading position in polymer technology, which has given the world state-of-the-art banknotes.