A promising competitor in solar field. Not public though.
konarka.com
From another article:
Polymer solar cells
Flexible, thin-film polymer photovoltaics, which can be made using a convenient roll-to-roll process, could soon be challenging traditional silicon solar cells. Last year, US firm Konarka gave itself a European base by acquiring Siemens' organic photovoltaic research activities, and now it believes that its development partners could be manufacturing their first products within 12-36 months.
"On the commercial product side we have been able to make material that is hundreds to thousands of feet long," Daniel McGahn of Konarka told OLE. "What has changed on the technology side is that we've raised the bar on where we see the ultimate efficiency."
Daniel McGahn
The firm is busy optimizing the chemical make-up of its so-called Power Plastic and is experimenting with the addition of sensitizers that would make the material responsive in the near infrared. "We now have a roadmap and want to be able to get from, say, 7% [efficiency] up into the high teens and potentially over 20% in the laboratory," said McGahn. "We've commissioned a pilot coating line for the laboratory development of a finished product and have entered into a relationship with German printing company Kurz to look at very-large-scale production."
Applications
The first beneficiaries of Power Plastic are likely to be portable consumer electronics and sensors that are usually plugged in to the grid to be recharged. Pushing the concept much further foward and assuming further reductions in cost and gains in conversion efficiency, polymer photovoltaics could one day become an important source of green power generation. "Instead of a coal-fired plant you could have a vineyard with a plastic film that has dual functionality and a very large area to generate power," added McGahn.
Such a vision of alternative energy is increasingly in the news, but McGahn downplays the recent surge of attention. "It allows for things such as greater desire of federal governments to invest in technology and a business climate that is more amenable to looking at renewable-energy technology, but at the end of the day it is consumption that winds up driving change," he said. "We can look at macro trends, carbon credits, NOx credits and political pressures, but what matters is the value proposition to the consumer."
Although ordinary solar cells generally work very well in full sun, this means that conventionally powered devices have a restricted window of 4-6 h to harvest their energy. Power Plastic technology is better suited to lower light levels and can actually outperform traditional solar technology under these conditions.
"There is a bit of education and understanding that needs to go on in the marketplace," said McGahn. "The concept is that devices will be self-recharging and simply placed in an environment that is lit."
Exciting possibilities for products using the technology include power-generating windows, doors, awnings and roof tiles. In the future, these items could all contain light-activated material and would be direct replacements for current building components.
According to McGahn, a hurdle facing the solar industry today is what he dubs the last mile problem - how to apply the technology. "[With integrated products] you are simplifying the user experience and are able to get people more excited, more familiar and allow the products to be more useful," he said. "At the end of the day you have actually solved the problem." |
