We are all well aware of the race to meet a sustainable future that a majority of us is participating in. The whole world has reached a stage of urgency where everyone, irrespective of the industry, is trying to explore the versatility of renewable sources of energy, especially the most abundant form of energy: The Solar Power. Every second, our sun produces enough energy to sustain Earth’s needs for approximately 500,000 years. Traditionally, it has been exploited mainly by the architecture, construction, technological industry or for generating heat & electricity.

But with our rapidly increasing tech-savvy life style, masses are becoming increasingly dependent on battery draining devices making this the most appropriate time to innovate something that meets our requirements in an eco-friendly manner. This is exactly where Solar Powered fashion comes into play.

The first solar paneled jacket was introduced by Tommy Hilfiger in 2014. It could charge a phone or a tablet but was not much of a success due to its bulky panels and an exorbitant price.

The size and thickness of solar panels, lack of flexibility regards to the solar cells, their maintenance and durability have always been the major challenges while producing solar clothes.

Eventually after a lot of experiments and research, Nottingham Trent University developed micro solar cells measuring 3 mm x 1.5 mm, making it too small to be felt by the wearer. They are inserted into yarns that can then be knitted and woven into textiles. Each cell is laminated in a waterproof resin to ease the laundry process without harming the cells.

Researchers observed through trials that 200 cells, if embedded into a 5 square cm section of fabric,can produce energy sufficient to charge a Fit bit or a basic mobile phone. If scaled up to 2000 cells, it would be capable enough to charge a modern smart phone.

Every opportunity presents itself with some or the other challenges. And in this case it’s the maintenance & durability, consistency and most importantly cost of production. But with the rapid technological advancements in this field, availability of feasible and affordable solar powered clothing for the mass is not a far-fetched dream.