Economic on-grid solar energy via organic thin film technology

The goal of Plextronics, Inc.'s Solar America Initiative PV Incubator contract was to take its organic photovoltaic (OPV) technology from laboratory-scale and demonstrate a pathway to 3-W manufacturing capacity (~2010) and 7 cents/kWh levelized cost of energy by 2015. The work supports the Solar Energy Technology Program charter as follows: (1) Driving commercialization of novel, low-cost thin-film PV technology by developing commercial high-performance OPV inks to enable module production; (2) Systematically, quantitatively evaluating technological options on the pathway to achieving grid parity with conventional power sources; (3) Demonstrating an OPV module development line and using it as a pathway to establishing a high-volume manufacturing facility that will eventually contribute to U.S. installed domestic capacity for PV systems. Plextronics used a three-pronged approach to meet the Incubator goals: (1) Drive device efficiency via materials development; (2) Improve stability and lifetime via device design and process development; (3) Translate lab-scale performance to large-area modules by establishing a pilot manufacturing-development line to evaluate manufacturing-worthy processes.