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# What if clean energy was as easy as pressing ‘print’?
- URL: https://www.cascadepbs.org/environment/2018/08/what-if-clean-energy-was-easy-pressing-print/
- Published: 2018-08-02T16:33:23.000Z
- Updated: 2025-06-19T11:06:08.000Z
- Author: Sarah Hoffman
- Tags: Environment, Energy, ReInventors, #wp, #wp-post, #Import 2025-04-14 08:04, #Import 2025-05-09 14:42, #article

Imagine if you could turn almost any surface into a solar panel: office windows could power the buildings that house them. Your backpack could charge the devices inside while you walk down the street. In a disaster, the tent walls of emergency shelters could generate enough energy to improve conditions for the people inside.

What if solar power was so cheap and efficient that even cloudy places like the Pacific Northwest could rely on it? Scientists at the Clean Energy Institute at the University of Washington are making this future a reality by developing light, thin, cheap, flexible solar panels you can print like newspaper.

ReInventors is hosted by Katie Herzog. Each episode features scientists, inventors and tinkerers who are reimagining the basic elements of our everyday lives.

### [Go here for more Reinventors episodes!](https://crosscut.com/reinventors?ref=cascadepbs.org)