Automated Manufacturing Production Line for Integrated Printed Organic Photovoltaics

FleFlex2Energy is a 48-month project with the ambitious goal to manufacture reliable Integrated Photovoltaics (IPVs) with differentiated product design, through the development of the first-of-each-kind Automated Roll-to-Roll (R2R) Manufacturing Line for Organic PVs.

The F2E Manufacturing Line consists of the R2R Printing & Automated Assembly Machines, enhanced with robust metrologies for inline quality & process control under Artificial Intelligence (AI) analysis, implementing industry 4.0 concept.

F2E IPVs will comply with all the standards, codes and product requirements of use in Buildings, Agriculture and Automotive sectors.The novel idea of Flex2Energy will be realized by 5 objectives:•Develop and upgrade manufacturing tools for design and aesthetics of OPV products, inline process quality control techniques and easily adaptable equipment design for printed PV technologies•Integrate tools, QC, equipment to Machines to build & demonstrate automated PL manufacturing of IPVs•Manufacturing high efficiency, durable printed IPV products at competitive cost •Demonstrate and Validate IPVs in energy efficient buildings, automotive and agriculture industries with minimum environmental and landscape impact•Deploy Market Strategy and Bridge the gap between PV and Building sectorsF2E will implement innovative IPV products in three dedicated business cases to promote their early adoption and boost the new market demands.

BIPV products will be installed on a public and a heavy industry building façade as energy efficient windows, while Agri-PVs will be installed on the roof of a Med GH working as a shade curtain system for growth of tomatoes and as energy generator making the GH energy autonomous.

Finally, VIPVs will be installed on the roof of a commercial EV to increase mileage and also on the roof of a solar Carport to provide energy to electric vehicles. The IPV products will be evaluated in terms of performance, durability, social and industrial acceptance.