Nanosolar Powersheet is very cool stuff. Or very hot. It won Innovation of the Year of 2007 from Popular Science magazine, and is destined to change the world.

It's a paper-thin solar energy collector. The PowerSheet solar cells are created on printing-press-style machines that set down a layer of solar-absorbing nano-ink onto metal sheets as thin as aluminum foil, so the panels can be made for about a tenth of what current panels cost and at a rate of several hundred feet per minute. It's inexpensive mainly because no silicon is used. Which means that it could be used to cover entire roofs or building exteriors, producing significant amounts of efficient energy.

Be sure and watch the slideshow and animation. This stuff is the real deal, folks.

Labels: energy, environment