Solar panels don’t just belong on rooftops or in massive arrays—small panels can boost day-to-day life. Decorative organic photovoltaic cells are stylish solar panels that can be used to charge smaller devices or run low power sensors. Introduced by the Finnish VTT Technical Center, these solar cells are an attractive solar alternative that look right at home in a stylized living room.
VTT has gone a step further in that the OPV leaves they designed are actually a multi-source energy harvesting system, meaning that they are capable of converting not just light into usable electricity, but also temperature differences and vibrations caused by wind. This was achieved by fitting each leaf with a multi-power converter, which makes it possible for energy from all these various sources to be converted into electricity.
These leaf shaped solar cells might seem like a novelty, but right now they generate just enough power to charge a cell phone. Check out the full write-up on this stylized solar cell over at Jetson Green.
