Will the well-dressed field geologist be wearing solar film clothing in five years, to power her notebook, GPS, and cell phone while mapping in remote regions?
The third annual "IBM Next Five in Five" is a list of innovations that have the potential to change the way people work, live and play over the next five years. Among today's predictions: solar technology will be built into asphalt, paint and windows. [right, credit cleantechnica.com]
The IBM report says, "the materials and the process of producing solar cells to convert into solar energy have been too costly for widespread adoption. But now this is changing with the creation of “thin-film” solar cells, a new type of cost-efficient solar cell that can be 100 times thinner than silicon-wafer cells and produced at a lower cost. These new thin-film solar cells can be “printed” and arranged on a flexible backing, suitable for not only the tops, but also the sides of buildings, tinted windows, cell phones, notebook computers, cars, and even clothing."