Organic solar cell developer Heliatek has signed a joint development agreement with Reckli to develop building-integrated photovoltaic (BIPV) products for concrete façades.
Germany-based Reckli, which makes elastic moulds for concrete building façades, will apply Heliatek's organic solar panels to concrete façade blocks.
While peak efficiencies of organic (O)PV modules are lower than silicon panels, efficiency remains constant up to 80°C - whereas efficiency of silicon panels drop off as temperature increases. OPVs also work well in low and diffuse light conditions, hence being suitable for vertical surfaces.
Evaluation
Heliatek says it should have some preliminary data for the BIPV concrete façades applications in about 6-12 months. Market entry will then be pursued, after evaluations from test installations have been carried out.
Trial installations, followed by some reference installations with architect partners, will pave the way for a full rollout of the BIPV products in 2015. This year Heliatek plans raise the necessary funds to expand its production capacity to an annual output of 50MW. By the time the Heliatek's OPVs are produced for commercial products, module efficiencies should be above 10%. In 2011 the company announced a champion cell with a record efficiency of 9.8% for OPVs.
Commercial buildings
The partnership with Reckli will target commercial buildings, like offices, where lots of concrete is used in the structure. In combination with other measures, the integrated OPV modules will help buildings with high energy use meet EU directives and legislation for buildings to be zero carbon by 2020.
The BIPV modules can be added to a building's façade in non-intrusive ways, and will be made available in a range of colours and dimensions for architects to work with. The OPV cells, based on coating thin layers of organic semiconductors onto plastic, produce lightweight modules weighing 0.5kg per square metre.
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Heliatek
Website for the TU Dresden start-up that is developing OPVs
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Heliatek achieves 9.8 % organic solar cell efficiency
Organic solar firm Heliatek, which is commercialising devices based on small molecule vacuum processes, has raised the bar on organic solar cell efficiencies
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Plastic electronics promises energy everywhere
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