Development of an organic photovoltaic module that generates energy from ambient light

Project Information

LAYER®

Grant agreement ID: 190132742

DOI

10.3030/190132742

Project closed

EC signature date 16 November 2022

Start date 1 October 2022

End date 30 September 2024

Funded under

• The European Innovation Council (EIC)

Total cost

€ 2 567 282,50

EU contribution

€ 1 622 881,00

Coordinated by

DRACULA TECHNOLOGIES
France

Periodic Reporting for period 2 - LAYER® (Development of an organic photovoltaic module that generates energy from ambient light)

Reporting period: 2023-10-01 to 2024-09-30

Summary of the context and overall objectives of the project

Lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) are one of the most important electrochemical energy storage system for IoT devices (in 2015, 5.6B LIBs were sold worldwide). However, lithium mining is extremely damaging to the environment and it harms the soil and causes air contamination. Furthermore, the typical estimated life of a LIB is about very short, 2/3 years or 300 to 500 charge cycles, whichever occurs first.
DRACULA TECHNOLOGIES has developed the LAYER®, the green alternative to LIBs. The LAYER® is an OPV module produced through inkjet printing that generates energy from ambient light and that is specifically designed for IoT devices, such as smart home tools. It consists of 2 electrodes, 2 interfacial layers and the active LAYER®, made of organic raw materials (semiconducting organic molecules or polymers, fullerene derivatives, non-fullerene derivatives). It is less than 5 mm thick and its Power Conversion Efficiency (PCE) under outdoor and indoor illumination is respectively 12% and 25%.
The LAYER® is the world’s 1st shaped Organic Photovoltaic Cell for smart home IoT devices of all shapes and sizes that can harvest energy from ambient light. It is 100% green, flexible and customizable and 3 times lower cost. In addition, the integration of a flexible supercapacitor within the device allows sustainable energy storage and the ability to completely replace battery usage.

Work performed from the beginning of the project to the end of the period covered by the report and main results achieved so far

Dracula Technologies has successfully been able to achieve all its planned goals for the project so far. The LAYER® technology is based on a process for manufacturing organic photovoltaic (OPV) cells which enables it to produce energy from ambient light.
We've successfully optimized our raw materials, our pre-industrial process, and electrical performances to ensure higher stability of the inks and the inkjet printing process.

DRACULA TECHNOLOGIES has also validated a new generation of device using 100% organic ink formulation using non-toxic solvents which are usually water or alcohol based. For the preparation of large-scale ink formulations, DRACULA TECHNOLOGIES has identified and validated two industrial partners who have this expertise and who can ensure this large-scale transfer.
DRACULA TECHNOLOGIES has identified the structure compatible with its inkjet printing technologies and has validated the printability of the different layers using its reference printheads.
After engineering upgrades, DRACULA TECHNOLOGIES validated the LAYER® by performing in-house testing with PROTISVALOR. In-house testing allowed to have a working final prototype that has been used for large-scale testing in real environment.

To enhance its visibility in the market, DRACULA TECHNOLOGIES presented some of its first products developed by the LAYER® Solutions division at CES 2023 in Las Vegas such as an autonomous temperature logger, and a CO2 sensor.
DRACULA TECHNOLOGIES now has a full offering with three divisions to address customer needs, from producing prototypes and preseries and manufacturing OPV modules to creating and licensing fully functional products.
DRACULA TECHNOLOGIES is also continuously upgrading their IP plan and FTO analysis to ensure they remain on the top with the competing market trends.

After the works performed, DRACULA TECHNOLOGIES announces its new “Green MicroPower Factory”, a state-of-the-art, fully automated facility. The largest of its kind in Europe (2 500 m²), this factory will produce up to 150 million cm² of organic photovoltaic (OPV) devices per year, using inkjet printing to simultaneously lower costs and increase customization. DRACULA TECHNOLOGIES’ new facility will cater to high-volume IoT customers from early 2024, while also preparing to license its groundbreaking technology.
To support this ambitious venture, DRACULA TECHNOLOGIES has begun recruiting over 60 additional skilled professionals, creating employment opportunities, and fostering economic growth. In recognition of its commitment, DRACULA TECHNOLOGIES was recently named laureate of the “First Factory” project call, an initiative aligned with France's reindustrialization strategy (France 2030), receiving total funding of € 5M from the French State.

Progress beyond the state of the art and expected potential impact (including the socio-economic impact and the wider societal implications of the project so far)

The main results beyond the state of the art linked to the works performed during this Reporting Period are as follows:
1. Ease of manufacturing and scaling-up production:
o The printable formulation allows a reduction in cost and brings advantages in terms of transparency, conductivity and makes the LAYER® modules more flexible.
o Additionally, the company worked with one of its main partner, MGI DIGITAL, to increase its capacity and to manufacture 200,000 modules/week.
o DRACULA TECHNOLOGIES is able to produce custom modules (free choice of the number of cells and their size).

2.Energy storage through an inkjet printed flexible super capacitor:
o We have identified the structure compatible with our inkjet printing and validated the printability of the different layers of a supercapacitor using our reference printheads. Optimizations still need to be made at the level of the different layers to improve the performance of these devices. We have recently established a collaboration with academic partners to conduct studies to accelerate this technology with our OPV devices.

3.Energy generation from both artificial and ambient light:
o DRACULA TECHNOLOGIES has developed different functional ink formulations based on organic materials to achieve high performance for several types of lighting (indoor, outdoor and mixed). Thanks to these several R&D years, DRACULA TECHNOLOGIES is the only candidate that has a wide range of materials to ensure proper operation regardless of lighting conditions (indoor/outdoor/ mixed).

4. Organic photovoltaic cell:
o DRACULA TECHNOLOGIES has demonstrated a know-how around the development and stabilization of ink formulations of functional materials for inkjet using industrial print heads that are simply transferable on a large scale.

Dracula Technology