Solarmer Achieves Record-Breaking Plastic Solar Efficiencies
Recent polymer advances have enabled new efficiency records in plastic solar cells and panels. Although they still have ratings much lower than traditional silicon PV technologies, plastic solar cells offer other benefits for key applications.
Staff -- PV Society, 7/7/2009
Although plastic solar cell technology has not reached efficiency levels anywhere near those of traditional silicon technologies, organizations are pursuing them for their benefits in such applications as portable devices and fabrics. Solarmer Energy Inc. (El Monte, Calif.) has made recent efficiency progress, announcing 6.77% plastic solar cell efficiency, certified by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), and 3.9% plastic solar panel efficiency, certified by Newport Corp. In both cases, these efficiencies are the highest recorded by the two organizations for plastic solar technology.
The company's Materials Development team made the polymers used for both record-breaking devices, and announced the achievements at this year's Large-Area, Organic and Printed Electronics Conference (LOPE-C) in Frankfurt, Germany. "We're extremely pleased with the progress we're making and excited about what's yet to come," said Jianhui Hou, who led the development team.
The transparent, lightweight, flexible, plastic solar panels that Solarmer is developing are expected to cost a fraction of what silicon solar panels cost, according to the company. The panels are expected to create new markets that cannot be addressed with conventional silicon technology, the first of which will likely include portable digital electronic devices (such as cell phones and PDAs) and smart fabrics (such as tents and solar bags). Building-integrated photovoltaics (BIPV), in the form of power windows, will soon follow.
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Solarmer's plastic solar cells will be used for smart fabrics and interactive textiles applications, including bags and backpacks, awnings, suitcases, jackets and vests, cases and sleeves, sails and tents, like that pictured here. (Source: Solarmer) |
Solarmer plans to exhibit its latest plastic solar panel at Intersolar North America next week in San Francisco, with demonstrations including a solar messenger bag, GPS navigation system, and cell phones.
The company was founded in 2006 to commercialize technology developed at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). Woolas Hsieh, founder and president of Solarmer, acknowledged the progress enabled by continued partnership with UCLA, as well as the University of Chicago. "I'm glad and proud we're advancing plastic solar technology towards commercial success," he said.
