In March 2012, the project has completed a major milestone: A Dr. Schenk SolarInspect RollToRoll Metrology System has been successfully installed in an inline printing and coating system for OPV manufacture at DTU (Technical University of Denmark).
Dr. Schenks SolarInspect RollToRoll is used to test complete solar cells and identify defects. The system has been successfully tested at speeds of up to 20 m min-1 and based on the first tests, defect detection is convincing for defects smaller than 30 microns. The Dr. Schenk system was chosen for HIFLEX because Dr. Schenk GmbH offers invaluable expertise in the inline process and quality control of R2R processed PV.
HIFLEX will demonstrate the scalability of production methods for photoactive materials for large area printing, which could significantly reduce the cost of solar renewable energy. Due to the use of commercially viable printing and coating techniques on roll-to-roll material, this new ITO-free PV generation can be produced more cost-effective than todays solar modules rendering organic photovoltaics a very promising business area. Next to the classical applications such as laptops and mobile phones, HIFLEX targets modern and future applications such as wireless sensor networks, e-labels, e-packaging, e-posters, smart blisters and smart bandages.
The HIFLEX consortium unites R&D groups (ECN, Holst Centre/TNO, Technical University of Denmark/DTU, Fraunhofer ISE, The UK-MatRI) and equipment and materials manufacturers (Agfa-Gevaert N.V., Dr. Schenk GmbH Industriemesstechnik). This important step now enables the research partners to proceed with testing and designing. Dr. Schenk GmbH is a leading supplier of test and measurement solutions for thinfilm solar modules of all technologies and generations (CdTe, CIS/CIGS, aSi/?Si, OPV and DCS) among others. More than 80 thinfilm PV measurement systems are installed worldwide. Dr. Schenk is very proud to be a part of HIFLEX.
