Solar power is now proving itself as a legitimate contender in the utilities game, making traditional utilities nervous. The United Kingdom predicts that solar power will be able to compete with mainstream commercial utilities like oil and gas within five years. The prediction is that solar will become competitively priced even in countries like Scandinavia where utilities are traditionally higher.

The newest technology is the solar film. Current solar panels cost so much to make that it makes the cost far too high to become mainstream technology. Solar film is made from a dark polymer foil that is much lighter than a sheet of paper. The lightness factor means that you can attach the solar film to the sides of buildings, instead of mandating heavy roof support for heavier solar panels.

Using the solar film means that customers will be able to customize their order for solar power by color and texture, and buy it at more reasonable prices in sheets. By being able to print solar film in rolls you save on the costs of manufacturing special glass and using pricey chemicals inside each panel. The technology is still under development, but it should be available for mass use in the very near future. It is being developed by a company called Filsom.

The film creates power by absorbing light and using it to free electrons. These electrons then give power to the buildings the film is attached to once they are hooked into the power source. This technology could not only reduce the cost of power over all, it could bring power to remote villages and other locales that currently aren’t able to be on the national grids.

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