OUTLOOK FOR ORGANIC SUN

Flexible OPV modules sharpen the market’s growth curve through 2020
July 22, 2011 (Lux Research)

"With only a handful of small demonstration products shipped to date, the current market for organic photovoltaic (OPV) modules is essentially zero. That will almost certainly change over the next decade. But OPV’s organic (carbon-containing) polymers and molecules deliver poor conversion efficiencies and short lifetimes compared to conventional solar technologies, which will hinder OPV adoption."

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"The best bet for developers is to target niche applications where unique capabilities like transparency and flexibility give OPV an edge. The current crop – based either on bulk heterojunction (BHJ) or dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSC) technology – enable transparent solar modules, but require the same brittle flat glass substrates of conventional solar technologies rely. As flexible substrates emerge later this decade they will provide OPV developers with unique options for targeting niche markets…"