Konarka Technologies, developer of Power Plastic™ dye-sensitized solar cells has signed a non-exclusive licensing and joint development agreement for large-scale production with Renewable Capital Ltd of London, UK, an investment firm that identifies and invests in renewable technologies. Renewable Capital has committed resources, capital and equipment to their development activities. This includes the enlistment of services from Coatema, a world-renowned manufacturer of first-of-kind coating equipment.
As part of the agreement, Renewable Capital will have ongoing access to Konarka’s dye-cell technology, as it is developed. It anticipates the technology will scale to several hundred megawatts.
Konarkaq has licensee rights to dye-sensitized solar cell technology from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (EPFL). The EPFL's dye-sensitized technology was developed by the world-renowned scientist, Dr. Michael Graetzel, and enables photovoltaic technology to create energy across a broad spectrum of light, both indoors and outdoors. Konarka significantly enhanced the technology and process development based on the company's own inventions and exclusive, worldwide licensing rights to proprietary processes that enable production at lower temperatures, serving as the foundation for extremely low manufacturing costs. As a result, Konarka leveraged its own intellectual property in conjunction with the EPFL license, to expedite the commercialization of its photovoltaic (PV) technology.
Renewable Capital selected Coatema as its manufacturing partner due to its more than 30 years in the laminating and coating equipment industry. The company boasts the largest research and development center for coating and laminating in Europe.
“Our proven coating process can be leveraged for large-scale manufacturing of new materials, such as Konarka’s dye cell technology,” stated Thomas Kolbusch, managing director at Coatema. “As well, we provide complete control of the entire production process, from the development of the formulation, trials in our own lab, manufacturing of the plants and full support to the final product, thus ensuring the most optimum manufacturing conditions.”
Konarka uses photovoltaic nanotechnology to make material with properties similar to an ink -- composed of particles 1,000 times smaller than the diameter of a human hair -- that can be applied to plastic or fibers. The material absorbs light, and emits electricity, particularly well because the minute size of the particles means more surface area is exposed to sunlight.
Konarka is the leading developer of polymer photovoltaic products that provide a source of renewable power in a variety of form factors for commercial, industrial, government and consumer applications. Konarka’s photovoltaic nanotechnology is focused on delivering lightweight, flexible, scalable and manufacturable products. Konarka Technologies is headquartered in Lowell, Mass., U.S.A., with European headquarters in Nuremberg, Germany, and research and development facilities in Austria and Switzerland.
For more information, visit http://www.konarka.com.
Source : The Energy Blog - thefraserdomain.typepad.com
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