MIT's ultrathin cells and where to install solar

The debate on where to install solar usually stops at available land. The reposted content covers ultrathin cells developed at MIT, around 15 micrometres thick, laminated onto surfaces instead of mounted on rigid structures, generating up to 730 watts per kilogram.

The MIT release of 9 December 2022, the origin of that figure, bounds it: the 730 W/kg applies to the freestanding module and, on Dyneema fabric, the assembly delivers about 370 W/kg. The same text records that the material kept more than 90% of its initial output after more than 500 rolling and unrolling cycles.

The stated gain is power per kilogram, and the next calculation is maintenance over twenty years. Report IEA-PVPS T13-01:2014, Review of Failures of Photovoltaic Modules, of May 2014, lists delamination, backsheet adhesion loss and encapsulant discolouration among the most frequent field failures. MIT states that ultrathin packaging is still under development, because heavy glass would cancel the gain.

The use case where this trade closes already exists: roofs without structural capacity, vessels, tents, curved surfaces. In those assets the purchase criterion is watts per kilogram, and that is where the technology tends to enter before competing with ground-mounted plants.