In November 2012, the TREASORES project (Transparent Electrodes for Large Area Large Scale Production of Organic Optoelectronic Devices) started with the aim of developing technologies to dramatically reduce the production costs of organic electronic devices such as solar cells and LED lighting panels. Funded with €9M from the European Commission and an additional €6M from the project partners, the project has since then produced seven patent applications, a dozen peer-reviewed publications and provided inputs to international standards organisations.
The continuous printing of electronics for displays or solar cells depends on a rapid drying of the surface and good conductivity of the silver inks. A newly developed infrared module from Heraeus Noblelight GmbH, headquartered in Hanau, Germany, achieves this in significantly less than one second (0.32 secs) and is consequently reported to be almost 2000 times faster than conventional drying techniques.
First Solar, Inc., a global provider of PV solar systems based in Tempe (AZ), USA, has announced that it has set a world record for cadmium-telluride (CdTe) photovoltaic module conversion efficiency, achieving 18.6% aperture efficiency for an advanced full size module. For the first time ever, First Solar has demonstrated a record module that is more efficient than the best multi-crystalline module recorded.
