Stretchable solar cells to power future wearables

Researchers at the University of California, Berkeley have engineered new stretchable solar batteries that can expand, contract and bend, an attribute that makes them ideal for making highly flexible next generation wearable devices and clothing.

Stretchable solar cells can be woven into clothes allowing them to be in direct contact with the wearer’s skin, which minimizes noise to signal ratio for monitoring and sensing applications, writes Seeker.

These soft cells stretch up to 30 percent of their original shape, can be charged wirelessly and retain their accuracy submerged in water, notes ABC News. It might still take two years before the commercial versions of the technology hit the market.