Photovoltaics

With its 135 members all over the world, the OE-A has become a highly dynamic and constantly growing network of leading international companies and institutes in the past five years", said Wolfgang Mildner, Chairman of the OE-A and Managing Director, PolyIC GmbH & Co. KG, Germany, on the occasion of the 5th anniversary celebration of the OE-A - the industry association for organic and printed electronics - in late February at the Holst Centre in Eindhoven, the Netherlands. In December 2004, 35 members founded this working group within VDMA. "One of the founding principles of the OE-A five years ago was the goal to build an international industry association to jointly develop this future multi-billion Euro market", emphasized the Chairman of the OE-A. "Cooperation all along the value chain is essential in this phase; no company can achieve it alone."

The demands placed on new, high-tech materials are continually increasing, and existing material systems are reaching their limits. Due to their exceptional electrical and mechanical properties, carbon nanotubes (CNTs), graphene and their composite materials offer high potential for use in diverse applications such as photovoltaics, sensors, semiconductor devices, displays, conductors, smart textiles and energy conversion devices (e.g., fuel cells, harvesters and batteries).

Interest in Printed Electronics from major consumer brands worldwide is constantly increasing. A testimony to that is the ever-growing number of end-users presenting at the latest IDTechEx Printed Electronics conference this coming April, as well as the variety of industries they represent.

Ascent Solar Technologies, Inc. a developer of flexible thin-film photovoltaic modules, have announced that it has signed a strategic supply agreement with FTL Solar, LLC. a world leader in lightweight solar structures and products headquartered in Austin, Texas. The agreement includes a minimum purchase commitment of $6.5 million over a three year period.

To address the needs for the fast-growing photovoltaic market, DuPont opened the Meyrin Photovoltaic Application Laboratory at its European Technical Center - adding new capabilities to this leading R&D hub by developing next-generation products.

Showa Shell Solar K.K., a 100% subsidiary of Showa Shell Sekiyu K.K. headquartered in Tokyo, have announced that it will open two overseas offices this April in Northern California and Munich, further building its global network to facilitate one gigawatt per year of sales and delivery of its proprietary CIS solar panels to customers worldwide. The move will be accompanied by a global branding consolidation under a single name, Solar Frontier (the original name of its international sales subsidiary), and a new logo.

Caltech researchers create highly absorbing, flexible solar cells with silicon wire arrays

Innovalight awarded key patent by U.S. patent & trademark office for solar cells manufactured with silicon ink Includes selective emitters made from silicon ink and crystalline silicon wafers

Find out the most exciting advances and applications in the new world of stretchable, invisible, morphable, tightly rollable, edible and other previously impossible electronics.

A high photoelectric conversion efficiency of 14.8% in a 5mm x 5mm thin-film silicon photovoltaic (PV) cell has been claimed by Mitsubishi Electric.

A very interesting array of talks spread over 3 days brought together approximately 400 people interested in printed electronics and related technologies. On the opening day of the conference, Marc Bernstein from the Palo A lot research Center focused his presentation on the lessons learnt from the move from laboratory scale research to real world applications whereas John Pellegrino from the US Army research Labs, although primarily focused on "meeting the technology challenges for the soldier", highlighted efforts to accelerate the adoption of flexible electronics in the intersection of the military and commercial sectors.

IBM announced it has built a solar cell - where the key layer that absorbs most of the light for conversion into electricity, is made entirely of readily-available elements - that set a new world record for efficiency and holds potential for enabling solar cell technology to produce more energy at a lower cost

Roth & Rau AG takes over from the OTB Group B.V., Eindhoven, Netherlands, 100% of the shares in that company's subsidiary OTB Solar B.V. (OTB).

2nd important replacement with experience in the industry at Heliatek

Semprius is one of 4 to be awarded funding for their novel technology to develop high performance concentrator photovoltaic (CPV) modules using their patented micro-transfer printing technology.

A Portuguese university has developed Paper-e®, an emergent technology for applying field effect transistors on and with paper.

Boston College researchers have observed the "hot electron" effect in a solar cell for the first time and successfully harvested the elusive charges using ultra-thin solar cells, opening a potential avenue to improved solar power efficiency.

2008 was the year of the solar cell, 2009 is marked by the success and growth of the e-book reader market and 2010 will be the year we start to witness further OLED penetration.

Enel Green Power, Sharp and ST Microelectronics join forces to produce innovative thin-film photovoltaic panels.

Tiny cells developed by Sandia National Laboratories scientists could turn a person into a walking solar battery charger if they were fastened to flexible substrates molded around unusual shapes, such as clothing.

In an increasingly device-driven world, a Campbell-based company is planning for a future where consumers will no longer need to be tethered to an outlet, waiting to power up. G24 Innovations Inc. is developing a technology where everyone can power their personal devices on the go, with the power of the sun.

Thirty percent of the energy used by buildings in the United States is spent making up for heat loss or gain through windows. That constitutes about $40 billion in electricity costs each year. Windows that change color in response to changes in the weather help save on electricity costs by absorbing sunlight in the winter and reflecting it in the summer but they have been expensive and not widely used. Electrochromic windows sandwich materials that change color when a small electrical field is applied across them. This change is triggered by changes in light or temperature measured by sensors.

OTB Solar and Trident Solar have partnered to bring innovative, cost-saving inkjet technologies to the solar market.

In a world first, a Monash University-led international research team has developed an innovative way to boost the output of the next generation of solar cells. Scientists at Monash University, in collaboration with colleagues from the universities of Wollongong and Ulm in Germany, have produced tandem dye-sensitised solar cells with a three-fold increase in energy conversion efficiency compared with previously reported tandem dye-sensitised solar cells.

Unidym, Inc., a majority owned subsidiary of Arrowhead Research Corporation, announced that it has entered an exclusive license agreement with Nano-C for patents covering fullerene derivatives. The license provides Nano-C exclusive rights to U.S. Patent No. 5,739,376 and foreign counterparts in the field of photovoltaics.

Solarmer Energy, Inc. employees are in high spirits after receiving news of their latest NREL certified plastic solar panel efficiency of 7.9%. Several accomplishments of this magnitude have made 2009 a great year for Solarmer including achievements in manufacturing, plastic solar cell and module efficiency, and awards. This achievement also holds very special meaning to the founders of the company, dating back to before the company started.

Heliatek GmbH, a pioneer in the field of organic solar cells, is receiving US$ 27 million (€ 18 million) in a second round of financing under the lead of the pan-European venture capital firm Wellington Partners.

Pressurex® provides a low cost solution for quality control checks during equipment setup, calibration, as well as re-qualification of a solar module production line.

World record: 13.4 % conversion efficiency in solar cells on plastic film

First Solar, Inc. have announced a Cooperation Framework Agreement with the Chinese government that takes another critical step towards the realization of the world's largest solar power plant in the autonomous region of Inner Mongolia, China.

Multi-layer flexible or thin-film structures will play a central role in coming generations of both photovoltaic (PV) and metal-ion battery technologies. At Stand 55 during Printed Electronics USA / Photovoltaics USA, Extrusion Dies Industries, LLC (EDI) will highlight film and coating die systems that it has developed for such structures—systems already applied successfully in both solar and battery applications.

An 18 acre solar garden comprising of 28,000 ground mounted solar panels has been completed by PSEG Solar Source, a subsidiary of PSEG, adjacent to the Mars Chocolate North America Headquarters.

The Dow Chemical Company (NYSE:DOW) and the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) announced that they had recently signed a multi-year research collaboration that is strategic to both organizations' interests in solar energy.

China is trying to catch up in the global race to find alternatives to fossil fuels with offers of government subsidies for utility-scale solar power projects.

At "Printed Electronics USA", EDI to focus on specialized coating and film capabilities already proven in solar and battery uses.

Converting sunlight to electricity might no longer mean large panels of photovoltaic cells atop flat surfaces like roofs. uniUsing zinc oxide nanostructures grown on optical fibers and coated with dye-sensitized solar cell materials, researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology have developed a new type of three-dimensional photovoltaic system. The approach could allow PV systems to be hidden from view and located away from traditional locations such as rooftops.

Competition in the e-reader market is fierce and one company in particular is attracting unwanted attention.

Centrotherm photovoltaics AG, based in Blaubeuren in southwestern Germany, is one of the world's leading technology and service-providers for the manufacturing of solar silicon and solar cells.

University of Wisconsin-Madison researchers are studying how to create inexpensive, efficient solar cells from carbon nanotubes, which are sheets of carbon rolled into seamless cylinders 1-nanometer in diameter.

Ascent Solar Technologies, a developer of lightweight flexible thin-film photovoltaic modules, unveiled its FlexPowerTM line of products.

Last week IDTechEx presented at two events in the US on printed electronics. Here we bring you the highlights of some of the discussions and presentations that took place.

At Masdar PV, the ramp-up of the new manufacturing facility in Ichtershausen is well underway: Meanwhile, almost 90 production employees manufacture thin-film modules of the newest generation in 2-shift operations.

Ascent Solar Technologies, will be providing modules to FTL Solar for their research and development contract with the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA).

Solarmer continues to break world records with 7.6% efficient plastic solar cell

Ascent Solar achieves 14% cell efficiency milestone in commercial production.

A new record efficiency of 13.4% for Copper-Indium-Gallium-Diselenide solar cells (CIGS) on a plastic substrate produced on an industrial roll-to-roll system had been recorded by Solarion AG from Leipzig, Germany.

Dyesol Limited and Merck KGaA have signed an agreement to collaborate in the development of electrolytes for use in dye solar cells.

OTB Solar and ARISE Technologies announce significant progress in development and deployment of innovative selective emitter approach.

G24 Innovations has become the world's first commercial manufacturer of DSSC technology for mass consumer use. The company will ship DSSC photovoltaic modules to Hong Kong consumer electronics bag manufacturer, Mascotte Industrial Associated.