These ultra-thin solar cells can be bent around a pencil

Scientists in South Korea have developed solar cells thin enough they can be bent around a pencil. The cells, which were announced on Monday, could help usher in the use of solar energy in small portable gadgets where space is at a premium.

The cells are fabricated onto a flexible substrate that is just a micrometer thick -- one-half to one-quarter the thickness of other "thin" solar cells and hundreds of times thinner than conventional cells. A human hair, by comparison, is about 100 micrometers.

The team at the Gwangju Institute of Science and Technology in South Korea managed to reduce the thickness by directly attaching the cells to the substrate without the use of an adhesive.

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