By a thread: Embroidering solar power into standard textiles

The demand for lightweight, flexible photovoltaic power systems has motivated efforts to develop photovoltaic textiles, fabrics that can generate electricity. Some approaches coat photovoltaic materials onto existing textiles, though this approach is relatively new and raises questions about operational reliability. Another method is to start with existing photovoltaics and develop ways to incorporate them into fabrics. However, most solar cells are rigid — so the question becomes how something rigid can be transformed into flexible fibers.

According to Jin et al., the answer is to dice III-V multijunction solar cells into tiny pieces and mount these pieces onto fiber substrates.

“You can think of the photovoltaic fiber as a very tiny thread that produces electricity once it’s under sunlight, so each fiber contains a very small, microscopic solar device,” said author Michael Jin.

Using embroidery techniques, these photovoltaic fibers can be stitched into any type of fabric to add new functionality to passive textiles. Once placed under sunlight, the material produces electricity and can power other components of the textile, such as LEDs.

The researchers tested their fibers under two sets of sunlight conditions to mimic potential applications both in space and on Earth. Because the method is lightweight and agnostic to the fabric and its potential use, it can directly power everything from Moon-based inflatable habitats to wearable electronics.

“It will be interesting to see how this can open up a new dialogue between potential industry partners to realize things at the application level and beyond,” said Jin.

Source: “Multijunction photovoltaic fibers with record efficiency for energy-harvesting textiles,” by Michael H.-C. Jin, Vanessa O. Rojas, Edward Mulhern, Andrew Gerger, Richard J. Ung, Spencer A. Langevin, and Sathwik R. Erabelly, Applied Physics Letters (2026). The article can be accessed at https://doi.org/10.1063/5.0332505 .