Bad luck for convertibles

The widely acknowledged evolution for car's engines goes like that: Combustion engine -> hybrid engine -> electric motor. A rather obvious step along the way is equipping cars with solar cells, but apart from experimental ultra-light vehicles it hasn't been done on a larger scale - yet.

One obstacle is the neccessary mounting equipment for traditional solar cells - no car with one of those on top would make it through a wind tunnel test, not to mention driving 250 km/h on a German motorway. The way out are flexible solar cells; especially organic ones. Those may be less efficient, but the flexibility makes good for that.

Organic solar cells are flexible, unbreakable, non-toxic to a certain degree and usually made of recyclable materials. To date, they have achieved efficiencies of about 8.4% and are characterized by better weak light behaviour than alternative technologies. Performance is usually good at sub-optimal angle of incidence as well as at elevated temperatures. Konarka Technologies, an US manufacturer of organic solar cells, uses an organic substance called "Power Plastic". Carbon molecules (fullerene and semi-conducting polymers) generate electricity under the influence of light. The solar cells are printed in a roll-to-roll process in many widths and lengths.

Now, Konarka co-operates with automobile supplier Webasto in order to integrate organic solar cells in automobile roof systems. Its  Vice President of Business Development Europe, Alexander Valenzuela, comments:

“We are pleased to be able to work with this forward looking company. We deliver our Power Plastic technology with the corresponding parameters that Webasto needs for its products. Our organic solar cells have special features including transparency, are available in different colors, are flexible and lightweight.”

Webasto has some experience on the topic: for over 20 years the company has been developing and producing automobile roof systems with solar functionality. Against the background of the world’s growing number of electronic and hybrid vehicles, the company sees a growing market. Dr. Jörg Löffler, Global Vice President of Product Group Efficiency Technologies explains:

“We have had intensive discussions with automobile manufacturers on the value of organic solar cells. The organic solar cells from Konarka offer a transparent, light and cost-effective solution for use in roof systems. The main task of the cooperation will be increasing the efficiency of the solar cells to magnitudes suitable for automobiles.”

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