Researchers from Australia have just developed a "solar ink" that can be printed on a material and used to charge electronic devices.

The Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization (CSIRO) has taken another great step to advance renewable energy with their new technology.

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CSIRO's process will enable the printing of solar panels with their solar ink. Once on a piece of material, the ink can absorb sunlight and transform it into electricity to charge devices.

This ink is currently used in a printer at the CSIRO office in Clayton, Victoria. CSIRO  researchers have printed the solar ink onto thin pieces of plastic.

The use of plastic is a step forward from the use of silicon, the material used to make present day solar panels. This is partly because silicon remains expensive, while plastic is very affordable.

Also, the good thing about printing it on plastic is that these solar ink cells can be placed anywhere. They plastic panels with solar ink can be hung from windows to gather sunlight, or printed in smaller sizes to be stuck onto smartphone to charge it.

Fiona Scholes, the group leader of integrated systems and devices at CSIRO's manufacturing flagship, said the consistency of plastic is better than silicon's. This feature will make plastic more effective in cloudy conditions.

While the printed cells are 10 percent less efficient than normal solar panels, a number of companies have already expressed interest to help advance this technology, and to bring this to the forefront of society.

One such company is Dyesol, a solar company that wants to help commercialize solar ink.

CSIRO has been working on this technology since 2007 though the Victorian Organic Solar Cell Consortium and in association with Monash and Melbourne universities.

TagsCSIRO, Solar ink, Printable solar panels, Dyesol