1. Pourable Photovoltaic Polymer/Liquid Crystal Devices
Jared P. Coyle and Adam K. Fontecchio, Ph.D
Department of Electrical & Computer Engineering
Drexel University
2008 Lab-to-Market Forum
Nanotechnology Commercialization Group 1

2. The Problem: Current silicon PV technology has many limitations
Costly
high $/MW
materials, manufacture, shipping
Only sensitive to some wavelengths of light
Environmentally harmful to manufacture
Must be a flat panel
Unattractive appearance
Drexel Nanophotonics Laboratory 2

3. Addressing the Problem
Reduced cost
Self-assembly
Cheaper materials
Optically Clear
Flexible & moldable into any shape
Sensitive to entire spectrum of sunlight
Drexel Nanophotonics Laboratory 3

4. Polymer Dispersed Liquid Crystal (PDLC)
Flexible
Self-Assembles
3 hours of sunlight or
5 minutes in an oven
95% Water, less than 1% LC
Low Material Cost
Efficiency: ~8%
10 µm
Just say that the raw materials are about 1/50th the cost of the materials needed for a traditional silicon-based PV.
Drexel Nanophotonics Laboratory 4

5. Holographically-formed PDLC
Same material set as PDLC
Thin Film Structure (20 microns)
Flexible
Transparent
Efficiency: ~15%
Say that this alignment of nanoparticles is created with a laser
Drexel Nanophotonics Laboratory 5

6. PDLC+ Entire system self-assembles May be any shape
Multifunctional (paint, roofing, siding, etc.)
Projected Efficiency: ~8%
Drexel Nanophotonics Laboratory 6

7. Stacking PDLC, H-PDLC, and PDLC+ are all stackable
11 layers of thin films
Absorb all transmitted light
Stacked H-PDLC: Forces internal reflection
Projected efficiency: 35-55%
Stacks of mixed devices are possible
PDLC on H-PDLC
H-PDLC on PDLC+
Drexel Nanophotonics Laboratory 7

8. Photovoltaics Market 62% increase in PV output from 2006 to 2007
~$10B raised in 2007
over 100 newco’s
Increased government
incentives
Drexel Nanophotonics Laboratory 8

9. PDLC Markets H-PDLC PDLC+ Similar to traditional PVs
Increased efficiency with stacking
PDLC+
Integrated into paint, siding, etc.
Share costs
Drexel Nanophotonics Laboratory 9

10. Competition 1st and 2nd generation solar cells
crystalline silicon & thin films
3rd generation solar cells
dye-sensitized titania solar cells
tandem cells
materials that generate multiple electron-hole pairs
organic photovoltaics
Drexel Nanophotonics Laboratory 10

11. Intellectual Property
Provisional application (priority date 27-Oct-08)
Unique polymer composition
Method of dispersing nanoparticles in polymer matrix
Multifunctional PV
Actively creating new IP with additional research
Drexel Nanophotonics Laboratory 11