Solar cells. I remember those. As an avid builder of K'nex models (forget the fact that I'm slightly above the recommended age), I remember when the company came out with a solar cell motor. I saw it in stores, I knew some of my friends had it, but god be damned if I could get my hands on one. I would have bought one myself, but the sets were kind of expensive- and I had no money.
Well, that may change.
A new type of solar cell is stirring things up. Similar to a traditional cell only in its energy harnessing capabilities, the Nanosolar Powersheet is a thin strip of metal with solar energy absorbing paint applied directly to it. This paint can also be applied to other things, as pointed out by Dan Kammen, founding director of the Renewable and Appropriate Energy Laboratory at the University of California at Berkeley.
The greatest thing is that the sheets are very inexpensive, about one tenth the cost of traditional solar cells. And they are made very fast. This means that they can start to help with this country's, and this planet's, energy needs soon.
Maybe I'll get my chance to make low powered K'nex models again.
Check out the story here: EcoGeek.org
Or the original story here: PopSci.org
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