A group of high-powered IBM researchers took some time to looked ahead, effectively time-travelling five years into the future, and what they saw in regard to solar panel technology is both astonishing and also hugely exciting.

Among many other amazing revelations, this IBM think-tank predict the price of solar panel technology to drop so low that it will be pretty much everywhere and in or on everything!  Effectively, energy saving solar panel technology will be built into everything from paint, asphalt, windows … there will even be sidewalks with built in solar panel technology!

They firstly assert that there will be very steep drop in the cost of producing thin-film solar panel technology. As a result, in its annual “Next Five in Five” report, they prophesied that all kinds of surfaces exposed to sunlight will be put to use producing pure solar electricity.

Already thin-film solar cells are being produced that are 100 times thinner than traditional silicon-wafer based photovoltaic cells. This new solar panel technology can be produced at significantly lower costs.

This revolutionary new type of solar panel technology can be “printed” and set onto a flexible, sticky backing. Thereby, they can be set onto not only the tops, but now also the sides of buildings. 

It’s not such a leap of faith therefore to be seeing solar panel technology built into sidewalks, driveways, sidings … and the use doesn’t stop there. Solar panel technology will be set into tinted windows, notebook computers, cars, cell phones and even clothing!

Not to put a dampener on this at all, we here at Go Solar Power For Homes Dot Com have already shown you much of this. Having solar panel technology to operate cell phones and notebook computers is not such a leap of faith. After all, we’ve had solar panel technology running pocket calculators and watches since the early seventies.

Our avid readers will recall that only a couple of days ago we revealed the Chinese solar powered car and an American hand-made equivalent.

Meanwhile, I can point you to some examples of solar clothing and I can even go one better by showing you something these scientists didn’t mention … What about solar trees? These solar sidewalk installations act like trees, following the sun as it moves across the sky in the daytime, storing up the energy and then using it as street lights at night time. (That really is pretty cool, isn’t it?!!)

So, not everything they came out with is so surprising. However, the big revelation is more the speed at which they predict it will all be implemented. Five years is such a short time, but then again … nothing gets in the way of a good idea whose time has come.

From Sam Deane,
your solar power for homes guide,
at www dot go solar power for homes dot com.

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Info via: IBM  Pic via: treehugger.com
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