NanoFlex Power Corporation

   

NanoFlex Power Corporation develops advanced solar technologies which enable high performance thin films, unlocking a new world of opportunities and applications for solar power.

Our ultra-high efficiency thin film technology offers breakthrough cost reductions and flexible implementations for the highest performance solar PV technology, Gallium Arsenide.

Our organic photovoltaic (OPV) technology offers high quality aesthetic thin film solar solutions in various colors, transparencies, and form factors at the lowest prices.

With extreme flexibility, higher efficiency, and affordable costs, our technologies hold the promise to revolutionize how solar technology is used

 

 

Organic Photovoltaics
Changing The Landscape of Solar Power

Organic Photovoltaics are on the Rise

Organic electronics have gained rapid acceptance in the electronic display industry due to their low cost and ultra-thin, flexible form factor. Organic technology can also be applied to solar photovoltaics to completely redefine the way solar cells are fabricated and how and where solar power is used.

NanoFlex has developed the most extensive patent portfolio of small molecule organic photovoltaic, or OPV, technologies in the world. We believe that our intellectual property positions us as a gatekeeper for the future of the solar industry.

Organic Semiconductors Explained

Organic semiconductors are carbon-rich compounds with a structure tailored to optimize a particular function, such as responsiveness to a particular range of visible light. The use of organic compounds as semiconductors for commercial applications is relatively new. Organic semiconductors have elicited intense interest globally as they hold the promise of ultra-low cost and high performance along with a host of break-through new properties that unlock exciting new product opportunities in electronics, lighting, and photovoltaics.

Organic photovoltaics offer a number of advantages ranging from rapid, ultra-low-cost manufacturing to extremely thin, lightweight, and flexible form factors, which present opportunities for revolutionary advances in the acceptance and deployment of solar energy. There is no restriction on the size and shape of OPV devices, and every conceivable shape and form can be envisioned, with only human synthetic capability as the limiting factor. The devices can be in the form of fibers, woven to fabrics, bent or rolled as films on curved surface. The near two-dimensional nature of OPVs will present a substantial paradigm shift and it may take some time before it is accepted by the mass market.

 

Organic Photovoltaics Will Alter the Course of Solar

A "small molecule" solar cell consists of a series of very thin vapor deposited organic layers sandwiched between two electrodes, a transparent anode (Indium Tin Oxide) and a metallic cathode on top. Two types of electrodes are used -- an extremely layer of indium tin oxide (because it has to be optically transparent), is used as an anode. Low work-function metals such as magnesium, lithium, and their alloys with silver and aluminum are now used as cathodes. While there is no restriction on the size and shape of OPV devices, and every conceivable shape and form can be envisioned, only human synthetic capability is the limiting factor. The devices can be in the form of fibers, woven to fabrics, bent or rolled as films on curved surface. The near two dimensional nature of OPVs will represent a new paradigm shift and it may take some time before it is accepted by the mass market.

 

 

How Organic Photovoltaics Work

An organic solar cell consists of a series of very thin vapor or solution deposited organic layers sandwiched between two electrodes. The basic mechanism of photocurrent generation in OPVs can be illustrated with two organic materials, one a net electron donor (D) and the other an acceptor (A).

The first step of the process is light absorption, leading to exciton formation. The exciton can be formed in either the donor or acceptor layer. In order to cover a large fraction of the solar spectrum, the donor and acceptor materials chosen for OPVs have broad absorbance lines and high extinction coefficients, giving a high optical density for thin films.

Exciton Diffusion

Once formed, the exciton then migrates to the D/A interface,
or alternatively decays to the ground state. Materials and film
thicknesses are carefully selected to maximize the yield of excitons
that reach the D/A interface.

Charge Separation

At the D/A interface the exciton undergoes a charge transfer reaction, forming a hole and electron in the D and A layers, respectively. In this process an electron is transferred from the donor to the acceptor, in an exothermic process. The optimal choice of a pair of D/A materials is one which gives efficient exciton charge separation, but maintains a large energy difference between the donor hole and acceptor electron to keep a high open cell voltage.


Charge Transport & Collection

After the hole and electron are generated, they are conducted through the D and A materials and extracted by the electrodes (charge collection). Once charges reach the electrode and are extracted and transferred to the outer circuit, the electron is transferred to the cathode and the hole to the anode.

 

NanoFlex's OPV Technology Platform

NanoFlex's OPV technology platform is based on flexible, thin-film organic technologies that it has researched and developed over the last two decades. NanoFlex's approach has been to advance all dimensions of OPV technology, including the development of new materials (some of which are now being sold in small quantities by materials suppliers), new high efficiency device architectures, and ultra-high-speed, energy efficient production processes such as organic vapor phase deposition developed in our research partner's laboratories, and solar cell modulization.

 

 

 

Shaping the Future with Photovoltaics

With our developments in both Organic and Inorganic Photovoltaics, NanoFlex has been able to form the basis for exciting new products, applications, and capabilities. As we've redefined the materials, architectures, and fabrication processes to radically decrease cost while enabling a far more flexible and lightweight form factor, we can now explore new opportunities for solar power.

High Power Gallium Arsenide for Off-Grid and Mobile Power

The combination of GaAs’ high efficiency with a lightweight thin-film form factor and competitive cost, opens off-grid and mobile power markets to solar. The versatility and cost of this new process will enable some incredible new applications and products that would not be possible with the current constraints of solar technology.

Organic Photovoltaics Pave the Way for Net Zero Energy Buildings

The ability of organic photovoltaics to be semi-transparent and tuned to a variety of colors creates the design flexibility desired by architects and building owners to integrate solar materials into the building envelope. OPV technology opens vast possibilities for building-integrated photovoltaics, enabling net zero energy buildings.

The New Possibilities of Solar

These new processes for solar material fabrication are creating opportunities for exciting new applications. Check out some of the new possibilities below!

Building Integrated Photovoltaics

Our new photovoltaic technologies allowing for more lightweight and flexible solar materials, making it possible to integrate photovoltaics into the structure of a building, as opposed to relying on heavy and rigid rooftop solar panels.

Building Integrated Photovoltaics

The Next Generation of Solar Energy

Solar Windows to Power Buildings

You've seen solar panels placed on buildings by now as this technology has been around for a while, but could you imagine a solar powered building? You could potentially witness this within the next 10 years, thanks to our breakthroughs in organic photovoltaics technologies. By developing a process that produces much more flexible and lightweight solar materials, we are paving the way to realize a greener way to power up even the tallest buildings.

Gone will be the large cumbersome solar panels that you’re accustomed to, and in their place will be windows and glass surfaces of buildings. Tinted semi-transparent OPV photovoltaic films could be used to coat all of the windows of a building, which will in turn generate electricity that will ultimately be used within the building.

A Path to Net Zero Buildings

The advent of ultra-thin, lightweight, and highly flexible solar solutions presents opportunities for widespread deployment on buildings, boosting the solar-power generating capabilities. Combined with energy efficiency initiatives, our solar power technologies can become key components of buildings to become neutral, or net zero, energy consumers as they locally produce as much energy as they consume.

 

     

Rooftop Solar

Lightweight and rugged solar thin films can enable solar power for multi-story rooftops that cannot withstand the weight of traditional solar panels.

 

Rooftop Solar
A New Generation of Residential and Commercial Solar

Redefining the Solar Roof

While we are excited about the multitude of new solar applications that our technologies enable, we are not ignoring the rooftop. Commodity rooftop solar is in desperate need of a breakthrough and we believe we have the answer. We look forward to the day when the familiar image associated with residential and commercial solar power is set to become a thing of the past. NanoFlex's technology lowers the cost of higher efficiency technologies and introduces flexible form factors that reduce installation costs and provides a more aesthetic look.

 

 

 

 

 

 

AMRtechnologies Solar & Electrical Systems
Tel: (+506) 2438-3246 or (+506) 2438-3272
Toll Free: 1(800) 2130227
Solar Systems in United States & Latin America