New OEE Working Group to Focus on Issues in Organic Photovoltaics

Thin, light-weight, flexible and variably applicable – these characteristics make up the key benefits of organic photovoltaics (OPV) technology. Under the leadership of the OE-A (Organic and Printed Electronics Association), a Working Group within VDMA, leading companies in the area of organic electronics that are focused on energy generation have started a new working group on Organic Electronics Energy (OEE).

Renowned companies and research institutes from all over Europe are working together on actively developing and bringing organic photovoltaics technology to market. „We are seeing market entry in organic photovoltaics“, says Dr. Stephan Kirchmeyer, Chairman of the OE-A and Head of the Business Unit Functional Coatings at Heraeus Precious Metals GmbH & Co. KG. „We are expanding and extending our activities in the area of energy generation with this new working group.”

„The working group OEE will focus on issues in organic photovoltaics and will function as a contact point for the public as well as for policymakers“, reports the working group’s spokesperson and CEO of Heliatek GmbH, Thibaud Le Séguillon. The group’s mission is to promote the exchange of information, to bundle the interests of all companies and institutes involved, and to participate in standard-setting for this new technology. Additionally, the public as well as policymakers will continue to be informed about the advantages of generating energy using organic technologies.

The list of founding members of the new working group OEE reads like the „Who’s who” of organic photovoltaics. In addition to well-known European manufacturers such as Amor Group (France), Belectric OPV (Germany), DisaSolar (France), Eight19 (Great Britain), Heliatek (Germany) and Mekoprint (Denmark), prominent research institutions such as VTT (Finland), Holst Centre (The Netherlands) and CSEM (Switzerland) as well as CEA (France) are also actively participating in this new group. The working group will be expanded to include a number of additional international companies along the entire value chain of OPV over the next several months. This will ensure the necessary cooperation and collaboration to globally promote the proliferation of this innovative technology and its associated know-how.

The working group will be officially launched and will present itself to the public for the first time at LOPEC, the leading international trade fair and conference for printed electronics, in Munich on May 26-28, 2014.