The FlexTech Alliance, which focuses on developing the electronic display and the flexible, printed electronics industry supply chain, has awarded a $450,000 contract to Solarmer Energy Inc. to design and synthesize high-efficiency donor polymer materials for use in organic photovoltaics (OPVs).
Potential applications for Solarmer's new photovoltaic technology are in portable electronics, building-integrated photovoltaics and smart fabrics, according to the FlexTech Alliance.
‘The current state-of-the-art efficiency for OPVs is [approximately] 6.8 percent for lab-scale cells and 3.9 percent module efficiency for 6 x 6 square-inch modules,’ says Gang Li, vice president of technology development for Solarmer Energy. ‘We plan to demonstrate high performance OPVs with efficiency up to eight percent for lab-scale cells, and up to six percent efficiency for 6 x 6 square-inch solar panels – an over 30% improvement.’
SOURCE: FlexTech Alliance
