Start of POPUP project announced

 

The member companies have just announced the start of the research project POPUP that wants to help achieve the breakthrough of organic photovoltaics (OPV) and is sponsored by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF).

The research consortium coordinated by the company Merck consists of nine further companies working in various areas of OPV. This includes the PolyIC GmbH & Co. KG, the Karlsruher Institute of Technology, the Belectric OPV GmbH, and the Siemens AG. The total budget of the project, which will run for three years, is € 16 million. The BMBF will provide the consortium with funds of € 8.2 million; the remaining amount will be borne by the companies participating in the project.

The objectives of POPUP are to develop significantly more efficient and stable OPV materials for cost-effective industrial printing and coating processes. In addition, new device architecture is to be created for flexible and rigid, semitransparent and opaque modules.