Plastic solar cell breaking world records

Solarmer Plastic Solar Cells achieve 7.6% efficiency, Newport certified, advancing OPV with flexible, transparent, lightweight modules that promise low-cost clean energy, better low-light performance, customizable formats, and sub-$1/Watt targets for scalable manufacturing.

Solarmer Energy, Inc. has done it again, breaking the plastic solar cell world record for a second consecutive time.

Solarmer announced their plastic solar cell efficiency of 7.6%, certified by the Newport Corporation’s Technology and Applications Center’s Photovoltaic (TAC-PV) Lab. The Newport Corporation is a globally recognized leader in advanced technology products and solutions, with recent milestones like a new efficiency record demonstrating the pace of progress in the field.

Plastic solar panels, the next generation of solar products, will be flexible, transparent, and able to generate low cost clean solar energy from the sun. Attractive and colorful, customizable shape and sizes, and better low light performance are just a few in a long list of unique characteristics of plastic solar panels. These solar panels are expected to transform the renewable energy industry, because of their ability to drive cost down to 12-15 cents/kWh and much less than $1/Watt.

In the process of completing their pilot manufacturing line, this efficiency milestone increases anticipation for thin-film cells and Solarmer’s plastic solar panels, which will be available next year.

"Breaking the 7% efficiency barrier for organic photovoltaics is a huge accomplishment for Solarmer and the organic photovoltaic (OPV) industry." said Dr. Gang Li, Vice President of Technology Development. "We are thankful for the contributions of our two primary collaborators, Prof. Luping Yu at the University of Chicago and Prof. Yang Yang at UCLA. We believe that our world class team will ensure that we continue along the path to the commercial success of OPVs."

“We are pleased that Newport’s recently launched certified PV lab is helping Solarmer in achieving outstanding results in efficiency with new plastic solar cell advances in testing and validation. Our collaboration in material research and certified testing is a great example of how two very different companies can benefit by working together,” says Dr. Ruben Zadoyan, Director of Technology and Applications Center of Newport Corporation.

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