Advanced Manufacturing of Low-Cost Building Integrated Organic Photovoltaic Modules

The purpose of this DOE SBIR program is to develop commercially viable building-integrated organic photovoltaic technology to substantially reduce the net building energy load. The main advantages of organic photovoltaics in building integration are flexibility of shape and color to ensure aesthetic appeal, along with extremely low manufacturing costs and competitive performance compared with existing commercial solar panels. NanoFlex Power Corporation and its partner True Metal Solutions will demonstrate commercial viability of organic photovoltaics manufacturing with the first “plug-and-play” building-integrated organic solar modular cassettes by leveraging NanoFlex’s extensive organic photovoltaic technology portfolio along with the architectural cladding and building industry expertise of our sub-contracting partners. We demonstrated the ability to fabricate both rigid and flexible organic solar sheets in a way that is scalable to both high throughput sheet-to-sheet manufacturing processes and roll- to-roll manufacturing. Our building-integration partners developed and demonstrated a low-cost cassette design that is easily scalable and manufacturable, improving overall system economics. Organic photovoltaic modules NanoFlex Power developed during Phase I program are already competitive in performance with current commercial amorphous silicon solar modules and also outperform main organic solar manufacturers/competitors, making our development more attractive for building integration. Our team developed a rigorous cost model that combines building-integrated organic solar panel manufacturing, installation, and building material offset costs to predict a levelized cost of energy of $0.04/kWh, which is in line with the 2030 SunShot goals for commercial solar. Our Phase II effort will focus on improving the packaging of organic solar sheets towards commercial building-integrated solar panels certification requirements, scaling up pilot manufacturing to meet production cost targets, building-integrated organic photovoltaic cassette development and qualification, along with extensive field testing of OPV cassette installations. We also plan to further improve the technical performance of our organic solar modules to exceed our competition. Main commercial applications include building façades and any vertical and/or curved architectural structures. Main public benefit is significant reduction in energy consumption that is environmentally friendly and aesthetically flexible. The non-toxic composition of organic photovoltaics is an important benefit for manufacturing workers, building façade installers, and building owners and occupants.