Say the name Xerox and printers and copiers come to mind. So much is the company tied to printer and copy technology that the term “Xerox” is still often used to describe the act of actually making a copy of a page rather than the equipment the copy is made on.

In 2002 Xerox spun off The Palo Alto Research Center commonly known as PARC. PARC has its fingers in all sorts of projects that you wouldn’t associate with printer or copier technology, but PARC scientists are using their vast expertise with printer technology in novel ways.

News.com reports that PARC is looking at ideas and technology originally invented for the printer industry and turning them into product for use in the clean-tech market. One intriguing idea is a water purification system PARC scientists are working on that purifies water by eliminating particles and microorganisms via rotational force.

News.com quotes Scott Elron, manager of the hardware systems laboratory at PARC saying, “The liquid passes through a spiral channel. The particles get formed into a beam and then sucked out." The theory for the purification system came from Xerox research investigating how toner powder moves in waves after being ejected over a charged surface.

Another interesting project PARC scientists are applying printer technology to is the production of solar cells. In the typical solar cell the shadows produced by the grid lines reduce the overall efficiency of a cell. PARC has been able to use inkjet printer technology to print grid lines on a solar panel only 60 microns thick. The thinner grid lines produce less of a shadow and therefore improve the efficiency of the solar panel.

Solar panels manufactured using this printer technology are 6% more efficient than a standard solar panel. PARC is currently working with a partner on the new solar panel technology and could spin off a new company to commercialize the technology.