Abstract
A solar jacket, which utilizes solar energy for generating electricity, is an example of clothing developed by the fusion of multiple technologies; such fusion of technologies can lead to further developments in the clothing industry and other industries in general. Many research institutes and garment manufacturing companies in Europe and America are developing solar garments; various solar-based products manufactured using solar cells, photovoltaic batteries, etc. are being sold at high prices. The purpose of this study was to investigate the development status of solar garments and their application for generating photovoltaic energy; the study also identified the type of design and upper body clothing preferred by Korean in their early 20s. The survey participants were 188 university students aged between 20 and 25. The design of the proposed six types of solar clothing was evaluated and rated; they were then ranked on the basis of the ratings. A survey on the management of solar garments was conducted, and ratings were assigned according to a 5-point Likert scale, with 5 indicating the strong affirmation. The survey results showed that among the six types of clothing, protective clothing (50%) and sportswear (22%) were more preferable than the others (working clothes (16%), casual clothes (3%), everyday wear(6%), and suits(1%)). Among the six proposed designs, the jumper design (22%) and jean jacket design (21%) were preferred over the others (casual jacket (19%), casual jacket I (15%), classic suit (14%), and climbing jacket (9%)). Factorial analysis of the management of solar garments revealed that the most important factors were the properties of the solar cell and time required for battery charging, and the second important factors were clothing weight and comfort.
