Air Products, Allentown, Pa, (NYSE:APD) and Konarka Inc. of Lowell, Mass., have been selected by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), Advanced Technology Program (ATP) to conduct research and development on transparent, flexible solar modules, using organic pohotovotaic technology (OPV), for windows and other building integrated applications. The $4.7 million award for the $9.6 million project is part of NIST’s Advanced Technology Program which looks to foster new technology developments by U.S. companies.
The technology will be suitable for use in windows capable of controlling transparency for privacy, regulating the wavelength of light passing through for energy conservation, and for aesthetics. Since the materials are capable of harvesting indoor as well as outdoor light, the solar modules can be integrated into building sensors, battery chargers, lighting and displays, and wireless security monitoring systems.
OPV technology is unique among solar energy alternatives in offering the potential for tunable transparency, capable of absorbing narrowly or broadly in one or more regions of the visible and near-infrared spectrum. Konarka and Air Products plan to research and develop flexible OPV modules capable of converting solar energy into electric power. Konarka plans to further develop its patented, transparent, metallic grid electrode technology for the new cell and module architecture. Air Products plans to develop high-conductivity polymers with more efficient charge injection capability in OPV cells.
The proposed work contemplates developing processes for making a sufficient quantity of high-conductivity polymers for advanced prototype testing. A technical risk exists wherein printable metallic grids in combination with polymers having charge carrier transport properties must be developed that go well beyond the current state of the art.
“Air Products is pleased to be working with Konarka, a global leader in OPV technology, on this project,” said John Dickenson, senior business development manager at Air Products. “Our novel polythiophene-based HIL (hole injection layer) materials have demonstrated clear lifetime enhancement in conventional OPV’s, and we look forward to developing new grades suitable for transparent devices.”
On October 1, Konarka Technologies, Inc., a developer of Power Plastic® (OPV), a material that converts light to energy, announced it has raised $45 million in private capital financing.
An interesting development indeed.
Posted by: Chandranshu Pandya | October 11, 2007 at 12:26 PM
The picture product is a bit dissapointing. I had been led to think we might have photovoltaic glass, that looks like tinted glass, i.e. we could have tinted windows, and get elecitricty as well. Even better if the tinting can be turned off at night. The pictured product has too much area of conductive strips, for it to be acceptable for a window.
Posted by: bigTom | October 11, 2007 at 11:08 PM
I'll hazard a guess and say that the pictured product is an engineering prototype, and that the area devoted to non-transparent electrodes could be vastly reduced without sacrificing performance.
Posted by: George | October 11, 2007 at 11:18 PM
The big retailers could easily speed up the process of taking oil out of the strategic planning - profits loop. Here's my article on the big four.
http://ezinearticles.com/?Beat-The-Energy-Crisis---Shop-for-Solar-or-Wind-Generator-Kits-With-Hookups-to-the-Power-Grid&id=773668
Posted by: Arthur Browning | October 12, 2007 at 08:14 AM
Sorry put the URL in wrong spot.
Posted by: Arthur Browning | October 12, 2007 at 08:18 AM
Made in China
Posted by: Made in China | March 29, 2010 at 11:24 PM