Solar Clothing, Does That Mean No More Power-banks?

When all the buzz around solar energy started, everybody’s reaction was like, “Oh yeah? Power from the sun? That’s a good concept, but haven’t the solar panels been around for a while?”. It is true that the solar bandwagon had a slow start and given the highly lucrative fossil energy market, it sorts of never got the attention it deserved until the environment began to suffer. Today, solar is the hot word in the energy market. Most climate conscious policy decisions, private and public, are partly relying on solar to do its thing. And now, a group of nanotechnology scientist (yes!) at the University of Florida have come out with the concept of solar wearables.

But who wants ugly little solar panels stitched to their shirt’s back, looking all shiny in the sunlight? Well, these are not solar panels we are talking about. The tech developed at the Nano Science Technology Centre is a type of copper ‘ribbon’ which can be woven into the clothing. Now that is exciting!

This latest piece of solar technology is being called the “energy-smart ribbon”, sort of generic, but you can expect a much fancier name from the clothing brands once the thing becomes mainstream. However, hold your horses if you are opening another browser tab to search for a solar powered jacket that can charge your phone on-the-go. The tech is in nascent stages but offers a glimpse into what the future may hold for green energy.

What you can buy however, if you are interested in going green and reducing your carbon footprint, is a home solar panel setup. Its relatively unobtrusive, installs on the rooftop and charges your home’s power backup systems and also helps you transmit the excess energy to the grid to get rebates on your electricity bills. Cool eh? Well, rooftop solar is pretty much it right now, the days when we have solar wearables, solar vehicles and solar everything are definitely near but not very.

So, make up for that big carbon footprint of yours and get in touch with a good solar supplier to begin the climatic atonement (winks!).