Solar Skin

Solar Skin

Solar Skin uses environmentally-friendly materials and unique processes developed by global leaders in solar photovoltaic energy technology and fire protection. With clear advantages over non-renewable energy and older solar technology, Solar Skin has the potential to lead the clean energy future.

Colours & Curves

Due to Solar Skin’s unique production technique and use of perovskite rather than silicon to harness the sun’s energy, unlike traditional silicon solar panels, Solar Skin offers coloured and curved solar panels that may be applied or built in to vertical or horizontal surfaces. Solar Skin is lighter and more flexible than traditional silicon solar.

Manufacturing

Once installed, common traditional silicon solar panels provide green energy and may be very cost-efficient. However, to create these traditional silicon solar panels the manufacturing process uses huge amounts of power and toxic chemical such as hydrochloric acid, hydrofluoric acid and ammonia.

In contrast, Solar Skin production uses a minute fraction of that power, it avoids hazardous chemicals and avoids the need for rare earth metals. Solar Skin is cost effective and environmentally friendly to produce.

Solar Skin is building the first large-area perovskite PV manufacturing line in Australia. The highly uniform thin film deposition technology and unique crystallisation process are used to fabricate high efficiency and stable perovskite PV devices.

Perovskite

Unlike older solar technology, the light-harvesting active layer in Solar Skin is perovskite - an organic-inorganic halide artificially synthesised to model the perovskite mineral. Perovskite’s ultra high absorption in the solar spectrum enables the production of low cost, high efficiency, thin, lightweight and flexible solar panels whose colour can be adjusted during production.

Leading the Clean Energy Future

Australian researchers have been at the forefront of solar photovoltaic (PV) science for decades. The R&D team at Solar Skin has been instrumental to some of the most key advances in solar science globally. They are now applying these incredible abilities to making Solar Skin the solar technology of the future. While giving us more energy with less harm, they’ve managed to make the panels more attractive as well. Solar Skin will offer colours and curves to enhance the most intelligent building design.

Solar Skin R&D partners with highly specialised printing technologists to develop world first solar production methodology - using the synthesised mineral complex Perovskite in a uniquely efficient and environmentally friendly method.

Australian Government R&D Grant

Solar Skin was created as the new generation photovoltaic arm of its parent company Flame Security International Pty Ltd with the substantial support of the Australian Government through the Cooperative Research Centres Project Grant Round 8 (CRC-P8).

Through this, and in addition to FSI’s investors, FSI and UNSW are working with State Governments, other research organisations in Sweden and Australia as well as range of industry partners, manufacturers and distributors to invent and commercialise fire resistant ‘Next Generation Perovskite Solar Polymer Membrane’. Some of these organisations can be seen here at the Australian Government CRC Project Selection Outcomes (see Successful CRC Projects Round 8).

Solar Skin Sustainability

Solar photovoltaic systems are a clean and sustainable energy source.

While the operation of a solar energy system produces minimal pollution over its lifetime, the environmental impacts of initial manufacturing until end-of-life disposal cannot be ignored.

Solar Skin’s perovskite module is manufactured using non-hazardous raw materials and is relatively easy to recycle at its end of life because it only consists of thin films of non-toxic organic materials.

Fire

Fire is increasingly recognised as a potential problem for traditional silicon solar systems which are made from combustible polymers. Storms and accumulated debris contribute to sparks at the electrical connectors where fire can break out.

Solar Skin is designed to reduce the risk of fire by integrating the well-developed fire protection products and systems from its parent company Flame Security International (FSI). This minimises the risk of fire damage to the solar system itself as well as significantly reducing the risk of fire damage to properties and their power supply.
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