Are inkjet-printed solar cells now a reality?

-- Converting Magazine, 3/31/2008

The use of inkjet technology to fabricate highly efficient solar-energy cells has been called a “breakthrough” by Konarka Technologies, Inc., of Lowell, MA, which has commercialized Power Plastic®, a material that converts light to energy.

Collaborating in the development is FUJIFILM Dimatix drop-on-demand inkjet printheads for industrial applications. FUJIFILM’s cartridge-based Dimatix Materials Printer (DMP) was used in the first known demonstration of inkjet technology for manufacturing photovoltaic solar cells.

Researchers from Konarka Technologies published the results of using FUJIFILM Dimatix inkjet technology as a fabrication tool for the controlled deposition of its photovoltaic material in the journal, Advanced Materials. According to the company, the demonstration confirms that organic solar cells can be processed with printing technologies with little or no loss compared to “cleanroom” semiconductor technologies such as spin coating. In addition, inkjet technology is very promising for fabricating photovoltaics because it is compatible with various substrates and it does not require additional patterning, FUJIFILM says.