Photovoltaic cells are thinner than spider silk

Austrian and Japanese experts have just announced a new invention: photovoltaic cells are thinner than spider silk and tough enough to bend around a human hair.

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Photovoltaic cells are getting thinner and thinner - (Photo: AFP)

This thin device, containing electrodes on a thin plastic sheet, is only about 1.9 micro-meters thick, which is equal to one-tenth of the thinnest photovoltaic cells available on the world market.

1 micro-meter is 1 millionth of a meter, meaning that the photovoltaic cells are thinner than spider silk, according to a report published in the Nature Communications journal.

'Ultra-thin means you won't feel its weight and it's tougher,' AFP quoted Dr. Tsuyoshi Sekitani of Tokyo University.

Accordingly, people can easily paste this device on clothes and so collect electricity from the sun, especially useful in cases where the elderly need to carry sensors to monitor the health situation.

This is the result of a joint study conducted by the University of Tokyo and Austrian University.

Sekitani expert hopes to increase the speed of converting sunlight into the current of new photovoltaic cells and aim for practical application within 5 years.