So back in my days of working at SmartHomeOwner magazine (published by Navigator Publishing in Portland, ME) I remember reading something about solar shingles and also printable solar material. Effectively the printable solar material is a thin aluminum substrate with some copper, indium, gallium and selenium nano-ink printed on it and then covered with another conductive layer. This wondrous $1per watt miracle has been branded the Nanosolar Powersheet (read more in this article by PopSci.)
Here is a clunky but good illustration of it by Popular Science. (it ends on a magic toaster at that point the illustration is complete.)10 Questions with Nanosolar CEO Martin Roscheisen from Earth2Tech.comInnovaLight is also making a “printable“ thin-film silicon ink solar solution. You can read about them on their site and also on Earth2Tech.com.With all of this goodness happening in the Solar world I am mounting my research campaign to get our current or next house outfitted with both solar electric and solar heat and hot water systems. I would like to combine them with a geothermal heat/cool system as well. I am hoping my stalwart research habits and dogged observance of neo-tech will help bring this to a tangible reality within a year or two’s time. Wish me luck.Here is Maine’s government resource page for Maine Renewable Energy Programs. It is a start.
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