News Release

Risoe DTU and Mekoprint distribute 10,000 polymer-solar-cell-powered flashlights

Business Announcement

Risoe National Laboratory for Sustainable Energy, the Technical University of Denmark

The mass production of organic photovoltaic cells is both feasible and inexpensive. As a physical proof of this, 10,000 solar cell flashlights, produced in cooperation between Risoe DTU and Mekoprint, were given away at the LOPE-C conference in Frankfurt on June 28-30. The project "Industrialization of polymer solar cells" has been funded by EUDP.

The flashlight is the size of a credit card and the light source is a small white LED (light emitting diode). The flashlight is powered by a lithium-polymer battery, which is charged by polymer solar cells via a charging circuitry.

The distribution of flashlights marked the start of a campaign to document the results achieved by Risø DTU in partnership with Mekoprint in terms of roll-to-roll manufactured polymer solar cells, which, in the long run, could provide a significantly cheaper alternative to silicon solar cells.

At the LOPE-C conference in Frankfurt, OE-A (Organic and printed Electronics Association) unveiled its fourth road map for organic and printed electronics. This road map is to identify and help remove some of the bottlenecks preventing the technology from reaching a commercial stage, of which mass production of components, such as photovoltaic solar cells, is a good example.

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