Researchers have come up with a new technique to make use of solar energy with help of kirigami solar cells. The new technique has been published in a paper in the journal ‘Nature Communications’. Kirigami is the Japanese art of paper folding, which is a variation of origami. With help of kirigami, the paper could be cut and folded.

As a result of the flat design of traditional solar panels, the panel's surface area is restricted and it leads to reduced potential efficiency. Researchers at the University of Michigan made use of kirigami in order to create a contracting lattice structure, which follows the source of solar energy while moving throughout the day since the sun moves constantly.

The kirigami panel generated 36% more photovoltaic energy than a traditional panel when it was tested at a solar panel farm in Arizona.

Efficiency of solar panel has been tackled before; however, the motorized assemblies aimed at rotating the panels with the sun lead to costlier system. It is also very heavy so much so that it could not be installed on rooftops. On the other hand, kirigami panels allow the cells to face in the direction of the sun as the panel continues to be stationary.

According to Max Shtein, an author of the paper and an associate professor of engineering and materials science at the University of Michigan, “We did try a lot of patterns, and it turned out that this simple pattern was actually one of the best. It has this property where it kind of moves out of its way and prevents shadowing”.