Konarka Technologies, Inc., which is developing lightweight, flexible PV solar material, has completed a large organic photovoltaic (OPV) installation that doubles as a semi-transparent curtain wall.
Installed at the company’s New Bedford, Massachusetts facility, the wall is said to be the largest use ever of OPV in a building integrated photovoltaic (BIPV) application.
BIPV is a market segment that seeks to blend PV solar cells seamlessly with the architectural elements of a building. The market segment is beginning to grow, and is expected to develop faster, as thin film and OPV solar technologies advance.
Because Konarka’s solar panels are semi-transparent, and easily laminated onto glass, they provide a unique building material for creating both architectural impact and on-site electricity.
Typical solar installations occur on rooftops, although there is generally far more area to accommodate PV system integration in building walls, especially in multi-story buildings. In the New Bedford facility, Konarka’s Power Plastic is installed in both south and east facing walls.
“Konarka’s Power Plastic made with proprietary, semi-transparent material and laminated inexpensively onto glass is easily integrated into building walls,” comments Howard Berke, CEO and co-founder of Konarka. “Organic PV is much less energy intensive to manufacture compared with crystalline silicon. Konarka’s transparent photovoltaic film is ideal for glass curtain walls because of its superior low light sensitivity, thermal performance, light weight and performance over a wide range of sunlight angle of incidence.”
Konarka’s roll-to-roll manufacturing process facilitates fabrication of custom sizes welcomed by architects in new construction and retrofit applications. The company’s solar panels also are available in a variety of colors and degrees of transparency.
Konarka has received investments from Konica Minolta and French oil company Total.
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