In this project roll-to-roll printed organic solar cells (OSCs) and thin film batteries (TFBs) are developed, manufactured and integrated to a flexible autonomous cost efficient energy source. This kind of energy source concept has huge potential to be integrated into different low cost large area electronics applications such as posters, wireless keyboards, large-area sensor networks. In order to reduce manufacturing costs of this application field the fabrication is transferred to a roll-to-roll process which enables cost-efficient and large area processing. Thus the technology can be also integrated to conventional printing processes used in the industry.
So far printed OSCs and TFBs have been studied and manufactured using sheet fed laboratory scale machines. The goal of the "Flexible Autonomous Cost efficient Energy Source and Storage" (FACESS) project is to manufacture efficient organic solar cells (OSCs) and a thin film battery (TFB) on flexible substrate using commercially available materials and cost efficient roll-to-roll (R2R) mass production techniques, printing, as well as integrate a control transistor circuitry on a foil. The ultimate goal is to integrate these three structures to a single assembly resulting in a flexible, fully autonomous energy source. In this assembly organic solar cells harvest the solar energy and charge the thin film batteries which provide the electricity for an external load. The Si-based transistor circuitry integrated on the foil controls the charge operation.
The effort of the FACESS consortium is to create a new technology that is derived from the strengths of European region, to the area of low cost power source manufacturing and its utilisation in different applications. The competitiveness of European industry in this new disruptive technology is much more potential than in well established products. The development in FACESS project creates synergies and co-operation between the electronic, and printing industry.