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If you have ever entertained the thought of getting off the grid and using solar power to make your own energy, but dreaded the thought of installing heavy, cumbersome solar panels, start thinking in a whole new way: think paint. New technology will soon allow you to paint on a solar energy system, almost as easily as you can paint your house.
You will be able to turn your roof into a solar power plant by first installing steel roofing. Steel roofs are becoming a long-lasting and popular alternative to the old shingles, and make great conductors for solar energy when painted with solar paint. You will also be able to use steel siding on your house to increase your solar painting surface. The paint reacts with the steel and makes the electrons that exist in the steel reactive to the sun and transfer the energy to the collection circuits.
So much research is being conducted in order to develop better forms of energy that it may soon be possible to power cars with solar painted bodies. The use of spray-on solar paint is making creation of various shapes and sizes of metal solar powered easier, and studies are being done to find ways to use the solar paint on plastic and materials used to build automobiles as well.
Don’t think that solar paint inventors are stopping at homes and automobiles, though. Pretty soon you may even be wearing clothes created with solar power paint so you can power your MP3 players and other battery powered devices.
Currently, the biggest downfall of solar paint is that the reaction it causes in metals and plastics causes it to degrade at an increased pace. That means, unless they can improve the technology, you may have to replace your roof more often, or your car will suffer depreciation faster.
Solar paint that can be used on other materials such as windows adds to the efficiency and attractiveness of this new technology. Solar paint costs less than solar cells, too, and can produce enough power to energize your home the same way a solar panel can.
Solar energy is renewable and virtually unlimited. It is readily available almost everywhere, and does not require a lot of maintenance. Solar paint improves on solar collection technology by eliminating the need to replace broken glass cells, and the need for space to accommodate a collection unit. One of the things that has stymied the manufacturers of vehicles for years is where to put enough solar cells to power a single vehicle, but solar paint makes that a moot issue.
Many of the current uses for solar paint are on an industrial level and in experimental stages, but methods for developing solar paint are improving every day. At the moment solar paint is expensive and not commercially available, but in the very near future, expect to see it in your local hardware store as a way to create renewable solar energy at home fast and easy.
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