Mon, 21 March, 2022
TWI has been working as one of 16 project partners on the EC-funded OLEDSOLAR project.
The aim of the project was to develop innovative manufacturing and in-line monitoring techniques to detect defects in solar panels for the OLED and thin film photovoltaic industries (CIGS and OPV).
These techniques will improve the quality and yield of the fabricated devices, as well as improving processing efficiency and sustainability.
The work included testing high yield manufacturing and control processes on pilot lines in preparation for installation on existing production lines.
Roll-to-roll Pilot Line Testing of an Inline Dark Lock-in Thermography Inspection System
As part of this testing, project coordinator VTT, Finland and TWI undertook thermography testing of thin film structures on VTT’s roll-to-roll pilot line. You can see video footage of the testing performed using TWI’s inline dark lock-in thermography inspection system here:
OLEDSOLAR Webinar: Advanced Manufacturing of Flexible Electronics
In addition to completing this latest phase of testing, the OLEDSOLAR project team held a webinar to share information about the project on 17 February 2022. The webinar, titled ‘Advanced Manufacturing of Flexible Electronics,’ provided a snapshot of the latest developments in the project, with a focus on automated manufacturing, in-line monitoring, waste reduction and improved yield of the production of opto-electronic components. The webinar attracted 68 attendees on the day.
You can see this latest webinar, which included input from experts from TWI, VTT, Coatema and Fraunhofer, here:
This was the third in a series of webinars held by the OLEDSOLAR project partners and you can also see this webinar and the two previous OLEDSOLAR webinars directly on the project website.
OLEDSOLAR at the TWI R4I Event
Finally, you can find out more about the OLEDSOLAR Project at TWI’s Research for Impact ‘R4I 2022 Conference’ on the 7-8 April 2022. This in-person event has grown out of TWI’s work to help promote and deliver collaborative research and development activities, such as OLEDSOLAR, that align with the strategies of the European Commission and the UK. You can find out more about Research for Impact (R4I) at the dedicated website, here.
The OledSolar project has received funding from the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 820789