HelioSkin: 3D Printed Adaptive Solar Panels

Solar panels as we know them are often flat, stationary, dark-colored panels that do not do much to add to the beauty of the environment. This limits where they can be placed and can discourage people from installing them. That is why researchers at Cornell University have dreamed up a way to make them more attractive and efficient. As part of the HelioSkin project, they have 3D printed photovoltaic panels as lightweight fabrics, a material that could be hinged together and wrapped around complex shapes for better absorbing sunlight.

HelioSkin is led by Jenny Sabin, the Arthur L. and Isabel B. Weisenberger Professor in Architecture in the College of Architecture, Art and Planning, in collaboration with Itai Cohen, professor of physics in the College of Arts and Sciences, and Adrienne Roeder, professor in the Section of Plant Biology in the School of Integrative Plant Science, in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences and at the Weill Institute for Cell and Molecular Biology. Together, they are developing HelioSkin with the hopes of helping to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. And they are off to a strong start: In 2024, they were awarded $650,000 from the National Science Foundation’s Convergence Accelerator program, and for their next round of funding, the team applied to receive $5 million over three years.

Jenny Sabin with the rest of the team behind HelioSkin (photo credits: Ryan Young/Cornell University)

It is not just about design, either. The International Energy Agency estimates that 40% of total greenhouse gas emissions in the United States comes from building. Adopting solar could reduce 28% of CO2 coming from heating, lighting and cooling. Hardly an insignificant number. This is where projects like Sabin’s come in.