Inexpensive portable solar panels capable of charging computers and cellphones have been developed at the Queensland University of Technology (QUT).
Mini solar panels consist of flexible composite films 100 nm thick composed of polymer / carbon nanotube blends deposited on a conductive glass substrate. Compared to silicon photovoltaic cells whose efficiency is around 23%, that of these new panels is low since it does not exceed 4%.
However, these solar panels have many advantages: they can be manufactured at a lower cost and are very light (approximately 10 µg / cm2). The panels could be assembled or disassembled easily, rolled up and transported according to the specific needs of the user.
