ECN Verifies Lifetime of Konarka’s Photovoltaic Cells in Environmental Testing
Konarka’s Flexible Photovoltaic Solar Cells Packaged with Commercial, Low-Cost Materials Demonstrate Outstanding High Lifetime under Accelerated Conditions
LOWELL, Mass. June 24, 2008
Source Konarka Technologies Inc, press release
http://www.businesswire.com/portal/site/google/?ndmViewId=news_view&newsId=20080624005191&newsLang=en
Konarka Technologies, Inc., an innovator in development and commercialization of Power Plastic®, a material that converts light to energy, today announced that the Energy Research Centre of the Netherlands (ECN) has verified that the company’s flexible organic based photovoltaic (PV) solar cells demonstrate outstanding high lifetime after comprehensive environmental testing under accelerated conditions, including high temperature storage and prolonged illumination.
“The environmental testing by ECN further confirms Konarka’s findings,” commented Rick Hess, president and CEO at Konarka. “We have been operating PV cells with similar architectures on a roof in Boston, Mass. for more than a year with little or no degradation. Further, contrary to the majority of the research community, claiming that organic solar cells require packaging with either glass or very expensive ‘super barriers,’ we are proud to have demonstrated outstanding high lifetime for flexible cells packaged with commercially available, low cost materials.”
Testing conditions were derived in accordance with the most relevant tests from the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) and the International Engineering Consortium (IEC), and involved high temperature storage in the dark at 65°C, climate chamber test at 65°C combined with 85% relative humidity and illumination under a solar simulator (one sun at 65°C). The lifetime parameter is defined as greater than 80% of the samples being above 80% of initial performance. Cells surpassed the lifetime requirement after 1,000 hours of testing under a solar simulator (one sun at 65°C), as well as high temperature storage in the dark at 65°C. Cells also exceeded lifetime of 500 hours for the climate chamber test at 65°C, combined with 85% relative humidity. All solar cells used commercially available, low cost packaging materials with a water permeation rate in the order of 0.1 g/m2/day and were on flexible substrates.
About ECN
The Energy Research centre of the Netherlands (ECN) is a leading institute in the Netherlands for energy and environmental research and policy advice. ECN focuses its activities on the needs of the energy industry and governments in their objectives and contributes to a sustainable development of a reliable, environmentally sound and cost-effective energy industry.
At ECN energy research is concentrated on themes that contribute to a globally sustainable use of energy. This includes the development of technologies for the use of renewable energy, energy storage and energy conversion, including low-emission combustion. ECN can optimally employ the multi-disciplinary nature of its research potential and its particular expertise, experience, and professionalism in the construction and operation of complex research installations. With a staff of over 600 people and an annual budget of € 70 million, ECN has developed a portfolio of proprietary technologies and patents of which some are ready to be commercialized through spin-off companies. For additional information, visit www.ecn.nl
About Konarka Technologies, Inc.
Konarka builds products that convert light to energy – anywhere. As the leading developer of polymer photovoltaic technology that provide a source of renewable power in a variety of form factors for commercial, industrial, government and consumer applications, Konarka has a broad portfolio of patents, technology licenses and an accomplished technical team. The Company’s Power Plastic® technology 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, business development offices in Asia and a research and development facility in Austria. For additional information, visit http://www.konarka.com.