February 17, 2005, Lowell, MA--Konarka Technologies is developing photovoltaic fabric with Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne (EPFL; Switzerland). The photovoltaic fibers and textiles based on nanotechnology programs is expected to yield the first fully integrated woven photovoltaic material. Such material is expected to allow for tighter integration of power generation capabilities into devices, systems and structures beyond what is possible with plastic film.
"Photovoltaic textiles could positively increase the number of applications available to solar technology by extending integration to objects made from fabrics, such as garments, tents or coverings," said Daniel Patrick McGahn, executive vice president and chief marketing officer, Konarka. "We'll be able to offer to the marketplace practical new products, such as wearable power generation for mobile electronics made from the solar fabric."
The EPFL team is led by Jan-Anders Manson, director of the Laboratory of Composite and Polymer Technology, who is well known for his work as the scientific coordinator for the EPFL-Alinghi Project, which designed the yacht that won the 2003 Americas Cup. The undertaking is expected to last one year and is funded by the Swiss Commission for Technology and Innovation (CTI). CTI promotes the rapid conversion of state-of-the-art laboratory findings to marketable products through cooperation between educational institutions and industry.
This new endeavor further deepens Konarka's close relationship with the university. In 2002, Konarka became the first company in the United States to license dye-sensitized solar cell technology developed by Michael Grätzel at EPFL, who now also helps Konarka, as a senior scientific advisor, to commercialize the technology's light-activated plastic power.