Our idea is that all of the electric components of the smart textile could be in the same container with the solar cell. ”Now that the solar cell laminated between textiles has been proved to be machine-washable, we have to protect the rest of the components. None of the cells or the textiles were damaged during the process. Physics researcher Farid Elsehrawy then measured the output of the solar cells after each round in the washing machine.įive of the eight samples retained their efficiency, and three lost about 20 percent of their power. The textiles containing the solar cell component were then washed dozens of times in 40 degrees Celsius. The researchers laminated a solar cell component between textiles in a water-tight polyurethane film to make the component machine-washable. The washing is a stressful process where the textiles and cells are subject to pressure and collisions, especially during spinning,” says Elina Ilén, project specialist at the Aalto University Department of Design. ”We hypothesized that the solar cell structure might break down in the wash as the cells weren’t designed to be machine-washable. The machine-washability of commercially available solar cells hasn’t been studied previously to this extent. The researchers also took measures to make the solar cell-infused textiles recyclable, writes the Aalto University in a press release. During the three-year Sun-powered Textiles project, researchers at Aalto University’s departments of physics and design developed a method of adhering solar cells to textiles in a way that makes them resistant to machine-washing and, at the same time, makes them less of an aesthetic problem.

Solarcell curtain