Leading Lights

This issue of +Plastic Electronics looks back at the Plastic Electronics Conference and Showcase, held in Dresden, Germany, 27-29 October. The event hosted the Plastic Electronics Awards for Innovation 2009, and it was OLED technology that dominated.

Advances in OLED materials and scale-up of technology from lab to fabrication were recognised and the awards highlight the work done to create the foundations for OLED technology, as companies begin to optimise offerings for the marketplace in earnest.

We take a look at the recipients of the awards, including Lumiotec and Philips, and discuss how the award winners are continuing their progress with the development of commercial products in lighting and displays.

A projector screen that the user can touch and control, rather than needing to use the source of the image, could create a new level of interactivity to the display of information and images.

Austrian start-up Isiqiri is launching its interactive projector screens, called Q-Foil. The company is planning market entry in two key areas in 2010.

Isiqiri's CEO Richard Ebner discusses the launch of the Q-Foil screen and explains what the device offers and what customers it is targeting.

The first generation of solar cell technology has helped the notion of harnessing the sun's energy become publicly accepted.

However, the way in which we harness the power available has yet to be defined in a compelling way: for most of us, panels attached to rooftops are the extent of our engagement with solar energy in our daily lives.

Organic photovoltaics (OPVs) are changing that by creating opportunities to employ solar cells in new, innovative ways. Thin, flexible and cheap to manufacture, OPVs have already been integrated into carry cases and bags, and new applications are being considered for more widespread use.

Plugged In investigates the opportunities for OPV developers, speaking to the likes of Bosch, Dyesol and Konarka, and assesses the viability integration into laptops and mobile phones, sophisticated building integration and the concept of local power.

The OLED display market has attracted the interest of some of the biggest global consumer electronics firms, including Samsung, Sony and Panasonic. Yet OLED display growth in areas like televisions and smartphones has been difficult to predict.

Based on Pira market reports, +Plastic Electronics looks at what areas will offer OLED displays greater opportunities in the coming years and how companies will realise the potential for this organic electronic technology.

Plastic electronics are a disruptive technology in many areas, and this issue's Wire reports on how successful companies have been in commercialisation.

Consultancy Faraday is aiming to make the value of plastic electronics easier for packaging applications, by identifying where developers like VTT and Soligie can add value; and RFID, once a much-hyped possibility for organic electronics, is finding real applications in the BRIDGE project.

E Ink buyer PVI may be frontrunner in supplying the growing e-reader market, but there is competition from AUO and SiPix; and UK's government-backed plastic electronics industry could lead the supply of next-generation semiconductors.

This issue includes a review of the 5th Global Plastic Electronics Conference and Showcase, where the potential for success in organic solar cell, lighting and display commercialisation was put into perspective with presentations from Novaled, the Organic Electronics Association and Frost & Sullivan.

Nanotechnology plays an important role in making the printing of flexible, plastic electronics possible. The UK NanoForum and Emerging Technologies Conference underlined the crossover of increasingly sophisticated nanotechnologies and organic electronics markets, with fuel cell developer Leeds Lithium Power, OLED firm Thorn Lighting and PETEC explaining market opportunities.