South Korean scientists develop ultra-thin solar panels 100 times thinner than hair

According to an independent report on June 22, scientists at the Korea Gwangju Institute of Science and Technology have developed an ultra-thin, ultra-flexible solar panel that is 100 times thinner than hair. Scientists believe that such solar panels can be used to power wearable electronic devices.

This solar panel is about 1.4 microns in diameter, much thinner than a human hair or paint coating, and the hair diameter is usually 100 microns. This means that new solar panels are hundreds of times thinner than standard solar panels and three to four times thinner than the thinnest solar panels currently in use.

Jongho Lee, an engineer at Gwangju Institute of Science and Technology, said that the solar panels they developed were less brittle when bent and performed better or even better than 3.5-micron solar panels. The researchers said that the new material is very flexible and can wrap the pencil. During the tests, they found that the solar panels still worked well when wrapped in 1.4-micron-wide objects.

Researchers believe that this ultra-thin solar panel can be used to power smart glasses, and can also be incorporated into clothes to power wearable devices. Many wearable devices are limited to battery volume and weight and cannot be mainstream products. (small)