This Fabric Turns Solar and Wind Energy into Electricity
Techniques for creating sustainable energy are increasingly common as concerns about climate change continue to escalate, but scientists have developed an energy-generating fabric that puts a sustainable energy source in an unlikely place: in people's clothing. The new technology comes from a team of researchers at China's National Natural Science Foundation and it is able to generate electricity through solar energy and wind energy.
The sustainable energy-generating fabric merges two lightweight polymer fibers, one that's a microcable solar cell and another that acts as a nanogenerator for converting mechanical energy into electricity (as would need to happen for generating wind power.)
Far from being just a theoretical fabric, the Chinese researchers were able to charge a cell phone and power an electronic watch with just a small swatch of the fabric.
The sustainable energy-generating fabric merges two lightweight polymer fibers, one that's a microcable solar cell and another that acts as a nanogenerator for converting mechanical energy into electricity (as would need to happen for generating wind power.)
Far from being just a theoretical fabric, the Chinese researchers were able to charge a cell phone and power an electronic watch with just a small swatch of the fabric.