Heliatek plans moves to exploit recent organic solar cell gains

Sara Ver-Bruggen - 12 Nov 2009

Technical University (TU) Dresden spin-out Heliatek will transfer its organic photovoltaic (OPV) work to pilot-scale production in 2010.

In June this year Heliatek recently announced that its small molecule organic solar cells achieved an efficiency of 5.9% over an active area of 2cm². The plan is to increase efficiencies to at least 10%.

Speaking to +PE.com at the recent Plastic Electronics Conference in Dresden, Heliatek CTO Martin Pfeiffer revealed the company should soon secure more funding, in the region of several million euros, to finance further work and development of the OPV technology.

As well as increasing efficiencies, there is further stability work to do says Pfeiffer. Heliatek plans to replicate its progress in glass-based OPVs on flexible plastic substrates, which will throw up challenges in encapsulation.

Pfeiffer believes that further development of OPVs can exploit breakthroughs that have been made in OLED lighting, as the devices use similar materials and processing techniques.

Heliatek's partners and investors include German chemicals company BASF and industrial firm Bosch. At the conference, BASF reported progress in the performance of its organic electronics chemistry.

In his presentation, BASF senior VP Karl-Heinrich Hahn said his company eventually wants to supply mass markets for OPV technology, one of which will be building-integrated PV (BIPV), but in order to do this OPV efficiencies must exceed 10 or even 15%, at sub-€0.05 per watt-peak. Hahn said the goal is achievable, but to get there R&D efforts must be intensified.

Bosch has taken a long-term strategic view with OPVs and its investment in Heliatek, says Pfeiffer.