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ASHEVILLE, N.C. —  Nearly 10% of the state’s electricity comes from solar, according to the Solar Energy Industries Association. 
But it costs nearly $1,800 to produce solar panels. 
Fueled by a passion to create a positive environmental footprint, UNC Asheville chemistry and biochemistry assistant professor Jeromy Rech and his research group are working to replace solar panels’ silicon with a plastic recycling system. Their mission is to design sustainable, low-cost, lightweight and flexible solar panels for greenhouses. 
“There’s actually a really big energy cost in terms of the heating, the cooling, the hydroponics. Often you’ll have extra grow lights to extend the growing cycle, to be able to grow plants quicker. All of that energy can be covered by our solar panels and create a completely off-the-grid greenhouse,” Rech said.
In December, the Research Corporation for Science Advancement awarded Rech and two other professors in the country $60,000 to help fund their project.
Rech says it’s rare for undergraduate students to get experience on real-world research experiences. This project is allowing him to share his love of chemistry and environmental science with students before they head to graduate school. 
“You add your solvent solids, your reactants and a liquid to dissolve them. That does some magic or chemistry,” UNC Asheville student Reagan Williams said.
Enough sun hits the Earth in a single day to power the entire planet for a year. 
“As we start to explore more and more different types of solar energy technology and have more things that are available for the everyday consumer, we can drastically cut our reliance on fossil fuels and kind of help leave a better planet for our future,” Rech said.
But these solar panels can be used for various reasons like in inclement weather. 
“During Hurricane Helene, I actually had one of these hung up outside my window to be able to give access to electricity. If you’re out hiking in our beautiful mountains, having a lightweight, flexible material that you can pull out and charge, imagining some of the struggles with traditional materials when we have, for example, a big hailstorm hill can destroy your solar panel,” Rech said.
Perhaps, one day, Rech and his team’s work can be used in space. 
“Within our lifetime we can see, you know, really cool applications where we’d be able to provide access to food and energy anywhere in our universe,” he said.
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