Printing solar cells by inkjet

[eridani]

http://www.rdmag.com/ShowPR~PUBCODE~014~ACCT~1400000100~ISSUE~0803~RELTYPE~MS~PRODCODE~0000000~PRODLETT~BC.html

Konarka Technologies Inc., of Lowell, Mass., announced Wednesday it has successfully demonstrated the mass production by inkjet printing of Power Plastic, an organic bulk material that converts light to energy. The company says this is a first for highly efficient inkjet printing. The company discusses and analyzes the performance of inkjet printed organic bulk heterojunction solar cells in a paper recently published in Advanced Materials, called, “High Photovoltaic Performance of Inkjet Printed Polymer:Fullerene Blends” by Stelios A. Choulis, Claudia N. Hoth, Pavel Schilinsky and Christoph J. Brabec, all of Konarka.

“Demonstrating the use of inkjet printing technology as a fabrication tool for highly efficient solar cells and sensors with small area requirements is a major milestone,” commented Rick Hess, president and CEO at Konarka. “This essential breakthrough in the field of printed solar cells positions Konarka as an emerging leader in printed photovoltaics.”

Inkjet printing is a commonly used technique for controlled deposition of solutions of functional materials in specific locations on a substrate and can provide easy and fast deposition of polymer films over a large area. The demonstration confirms that organic solar cells can be processed with printing technologies with little or no loss compared to “clean room” semiconductor technologies such as spin coating. The most popular printing tool for organic electronics, inkjet printing could become a smart tool to manufacturer solar cells with multiple colors and patterns for lower power requirement products, like indoor or sensor applications. Inkjet printing is considered very promising because the polymer devices can be fabricated very easily because of the compatibility with various substrates and it does not require additional patterning.

[OKIsItJustMe]

1. Konarka Announces First-Ever Demonstration of Inkjet Printed Solar Cells

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=115&topic_id=137242&mesg_id=137242

[eridani]

3. Sorry. Should have limited my search to this forum. n/t

[phantom power]

2. I would quibble that 5% conversion isn't "highly efficient."