>>The fabric modules had a power density of 370 watts per kilogram and weighed 0.1 kilogram per square meter. Commercial residential silicon solar panels, by co

>>The fabric modules had a power density of 370 watts per kilogram and weighed 0.1 kilogram per square meter. Commercial residential silicon solar panels, by contrast, have a power density of 20 W/kg and weigh 10.7 kg/m2 So, the fabric modules have an areal power density of 37 W/m^2 vs. commercial residential panels at 214 W/m^2. So, fantastic for weight, but on a per-area basis, about 5.8 area units are needed for every unit of std panels. This also means that a 370 W/kg vs 20 W/kg, the thin film has an 18.5X power / weight advantage. And that does not even count the further advantage of not needing the extensive support structures of current panels. I also wonder about how they would tolerate regular rolling and unrolling, such as stowing them for bad weather; would that be a net longevity benefit? >> “These cells as they are could last one or two years without packaging,” Bulović says. “With packaging, we could extend that to five to 10 years. And that’s plenty.” That all depends on cost. If they are cheap enough, 2 years might be fine, as long as they can be recycled and don't just create a landfill problem (but even then, the 1:18.5 weight advantage drastically reduces any landfill problem). This is fantastic, if they get even close to the cost/watt.