Solar energy solutions are paramount these days and yet solar technology used in homes is in its infancy and ungainly. Most conventional silicon cell photovoltaic solar panels are eyesores.

However, there may soon be a less obtrusive, colorful and flexible alternative: the dye-sensitized solar cell or DSC panel.

DSCs were created 20 years ago by Michael Graetzel, a chemistry professor at the Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne in Switzerland, but are now becoming popular.

Graetzel got the idea for dye-sensitized cells from green leaves - nature's mini solar panels - that absorb light which is quickly photosynthesized into energy.

He invented a colored pigment collector and battery that attracts and funnels solar energy the way pigmented leaves do and "it can store the power for later use," Graetzel said recently in San Francisco.

The technology for the Graetzel cell has been described as artificial photosynthesis. It uses inexpensive microscopic particles of titania (a pigment used in white paints and toothpaste) covered with ruthenium dye and a conductive electrolyte fluid, all sandwiched between glass. Light on the dye excites electrons that are absorbed by the pigment and become relatively strong low-voltage electricity.

New techniques for producing dye-sensitized solar cells have made it possible to inject the pigment in kilometer-long strips between clear flexible plastic and thin foil that can be cut into any shape or size. The sandwich is only about 1/8-inch thick.

Graetzel's patented technology is being used to make such flexible solar energy collectors. "The dye attracts the light and the pigment stores the energy until it is needed," he explains. A 4-by-4-inch flexible cell stores about 2 watts of energy.

Dyesol in Australia and G24i in Campbell with manufacturing facilities in Cardiff, Wales, are pioneers that create raw cell materials and DSC consumer products. Patch pockets for golf and tennis bags - the most prosaic use of this technology - to power cell phones or other portable devices are already being produced. It will also be possible to integrate dye solar cell units into windows to harness passing sunshine; decorative facades; home interiors, and even accessories .

Now, students at France's Ecole Nationale Superieure de Creation Industrielle and three design schools, Ecole Cantonale d'art de Lausanne in Lausanne, Royal College of Art in London and the California College of the Arts in San Francisco have created products that incorporate the technology for home use.

"Sunny Memories," a traveling show of this work at the College of the Arts in San Francisco, organized by Swissnex, a science, technology and cultural arm of Switzerland, includes DSC-powered mailboxes that announce "You've got mail," portable refrigerators that don't need to be plugged-in, glow-in-the-dark furniture, cordless speakers with DSC strips in decorative patterns, Do Not Disturb signs that double as night lights, and even solar "fabric" parasols that convert to lamps at night.

At a glance

Expert opinion: The next generation of cells will be transparent, for wider applications in building facades and room interiors, according to Michael Graetzel.

Pros: Semi-liquid dye-sensitized cells can be contained in flexible materials that can be applied to most surfaces; DSC production does not produce toxic emissions; the cells use low-cost materials and are expected to be cheaper to make and install than traditional solar panels. Dye-sensitized cells are most efficient in low-light conditions and perform even in moonlight.

Cons: Plastic DSC panels currently have a five- to 10-year life and recycling the fused plastic, pigment and foil components is not possible at the moment. Potential leakage could also cause the panels to malfunction.

Prices: A rigid glass 5-by-8-inch Dyesol DSC demonstration panel costs about $300; A 4-by-4 inch flexible G24i dye solar cell panel for e-book chargers is expected to cost about $99.

By Duc Nguyen