Wonder spray-on material may replace silicon solar panels

Tokyo

IMAGINE a future when solar cells can be sprayed or printed onto the windows of skyscrapers or atop sports utility vehicles - and at prices potentially far cheaper than today's silicon-based panels.

It's not as far-fetched it seems. Solar researchers and company executives think there's a good chance the economics of the US$42 billion industry will soon be disrupted by something called perovskites, a range of materials that can be used to harvest light when turned into a crystalline structure.