The first organic solar cell has come from Switzerland. It seems somehow normal that the first practical application and the first organic solar cell manufacturer to come from Germany – doesn’t it?
Heliatek, a Dresden-based company is planning to make ultra-light organic solar cells, weighing just 500 grams per square meter. For a comparison, today’s silicon based solar cells have 20 kg/square meter.
They want to build their production line helped by FHR Anlangenbau GmbH a company that developed a foil coating system needed to make organic solar cell production lines and that make the whole process have a small carbon footprint.
“Organic photovoltaic is a new business area for FHR and our roll-to-roll systems,” said Reinhard Fendler, managing director of FHR, in a statement issued by Heliatek.
The manufacturing facility is going to be built 15 minutes from the airport of Dresden and close to the A4 highway and will feature office spaces and research facilities.
Heliatek is a spin-off from the Universities of Dresden and Ulm and has been founded in 2006. The only bad thing about Heliatek’s solar cells is that their dyes are derived from hydrocarbons, so they rely on fossil fuels to some extent.
