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Plexcore® PV
Plexcore® PV for Printed Solar Power
The soaring global demand for energy has created an urgent need for new energy sources that are both cost competitive and eco-friendly. Solar power holds the promise of delivering clean, renewable energy, but the cost of today’s silicon-based technology often limits use mainly to large, on-grid installations. However, printed solar power — where printed inks replace silicon — enables new uses of solar power in portable and off-grid products, as well as the ultimate goal of low-cost, on-grid energy.
In recent years, printed solar power has made significant advances in performance and Plextronics is leading the way through the development of its materials and process technology. Plextronics is now making this technology available to accelerate commercialization of printed solar power.
Plexcore® PV is a ready-to-use ink system that consistently delivers world-class performance for printed solar power. The ink system consists of a p/n photoactive ink and a custom-designed hole transport ink that are solution-processable.
In printed solar cells, as seen in Figure 1, sunlight is collected in the photoactive layer to create charge carriers. When voltage is applied to the device, these carriers are separated into positive and negative charges and then directed to the conductive electrodes (cathode and transparent anode) to create power. The hole transport layer improves extraction of positive charges from the photoactive ink by matching of energy levels to photoactive ink. The combination of the Plexcore® PV inks in a printed solar cell enables consistently improved device efficiency, which results in the ability to convert more sunlight into power.
OPV Ink System
Performance Characteristics |
Plexcore® PV
Solution |
Customer
Benefits |
Ready-to-use Ink System |
- Designed for optimum printability and performance
- Solution processable inks
- Application guide provides initial processing parameters
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- No need for in-house formulation or synthesis
- No vacuum deposition
- Reduces time-to-market
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World-Class Performance |
- Based on technology in Plextronics NREL-certified 5.4% OPV cell
- Hole transport ink is tunable for use with other photoactive inks
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- Accelerate development through access to only OPV ink system available
- Gain access to future commercial improvements
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Consistent, Reliable Supply |
- Available in research quantities from milliliter up to liter scale
- Polymer components scaled to commercial production levels
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- Minimize material variability to focus on development in other areas
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For further information on Plexcore® PV, please contact ccontie@plextronics.com.
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