The past often knows how to become a part of the present and the future. If the past is modified to suit the present and future needs, it can bring extreme glory. Energy has been an issue that the industrial sector is busy addressing. The textile sector has also transformed itself delightfully to address the present and future needs of consumers. Regarding textiles, using renewable energy to manufacture fabrics and employing these energy sources to an optimum level comes as an expected package these days.

Solar fabrics have been a rage for some time now, and continuous research to utilize solar energy in something wearable has yielded good results. Photovoltaic is a promising alternative energy source that refers to the electrical energy created by solar cells. Photovoltaic technology can match up with the supply side of the world's energy demand. Today, the market is filled with solar cells based on silicon technology, which have the utmost solar conversion efficiency. Unfortunately, the production cost of silicon solar cells is extremely high, and electricity generation by these solar cells is also very expensive compared to fossil fuels. The materials, manufacturing processes, and installation costs involved in making solar cells contribute to the rising cost.

Today, there are photovoltaic (PV) textiles available in the global market, and the demand for such textiles is on the rise. PV-integrated clothing and accessories that are sold include a baseball cap with a thin piece of PV metal on the top that produces power for a fan attached to the edge of the cap. The power of the sun regulates the spinning speed of the fan; thus, the brighter the sun, the faster the fan will spin. Also, a New York-based designer has added highly demanded fashion clothing to the PV range. He has designed a solar-powered swimsuit consisting of thin strips of photovoltaic film stitched onto the swimsuit with conductive threads. This swimsuit can produce a five-volt output after a two-hour sun exposure and can slowly but steadily recharge an MP3 player with the help of a USB cord. These smart swimsuits are being sold to companies in limited quantities. Research is also underway to develop PV shorts that can chill a beer can. PV fabrics and textiles can also be incorporated into garments to come up with inbuilt heating systems, fabric sensors, and lighting systems. PV textiles can help soldiers when included in their fighting ensembles. This technology can be used as protective clothing in certain work conditions.

PV elements manufactured in the form of fibers can produce electrical energy between 2.79 percent and 3.27 percent. Stainless steel threads or wires, when exposed to solar energy, can produce electrical energy.

The popularity of PV textiles is still limited, as cost barriers have heavily impacted the sale and production of this smart textile. Developed countries like the USA and Spain, as well as developing countries like China, are leading in the PV textile manufacturing sector. The USA holds the key technology for the purification of polysilicon, making it one of the very few countries with this capability. So, even though China is a leader in PV textile production, the USA has a unique advantage in the polysilicon aspect of the industry.

is largest PV industry, it has to import raw materials such as polysilicon worth nearly 2 billion dollars from the U.S.A.


Countries like Spain are continuously making attempts to produce PV textiles that retain the natural properties of fabrics. This will control the cost of production and make PV textile more sustainable. The PV product that will retain fabric's natural properties will definitely be flexible, durable, light, dust and water resistance. In China, the photovoltaic industry is profitable and several textile industries have come together to venture in this field. China is the largest photovoltaic production country and the overall exports to the U.S.A. constitute to 10 percent and that to the European countries like Germany and Italy constitute to 80 percent.


PV textiles cater to the specific needs of certain fields like producing awnings and canopies, safety and technical fabrics like medical monitoring, interactive textiles and smart fabrics for warzones; industrial and agricultural tarps, fabric structures, narrow fabrics, fabric graphics, geosynthetic materials and marine fabrics. The fibre based organic PV are replacing the silicone based semiconductors, which has ensured that even regular customers who can afford to invest in the specialty PV clothing can buy them and use the garment as any other regular clothing.


Today the specialty fabrics constitute $ 18.4 billion market and are projected to grow to $ 18.9 billion by 2015. Even as the industry is on progressive path, the global picture of PV textile is still gloomy and it is largely so because the domestic photovoltaic enterprises depend upon exports, which further adds to the overall production cost. The export policies of all the countries are different and the stern rules and inflexible policies can lead to stagnant domestic growth.


The PV textile is future of garment industry, but further development of PV textile depends not only on the textile sector, but also on the cooperation from various sciences like physics, chemistry and electronics. As of now flexible solar cells when incorporated into apparels ensure that minor devices like smart phones, notebook computers, mp3 players and personal digital assistants can be recharged easily.


The market of PV textile has not emerged as very strong, but considering the future need of smart fabrics, the rapid growth of the photovoltaic textile and fabrics is, both palpable and inevitable.


References:


1. Illumin.usc.edu

2. Powertextiles.com

3. 2getemp.files.wordpress.com

4. Ecoweb.info

5. Chinaipmagazine.com