INKA - Inks for large-scale processing of polymer solar cells

The project seeks to push the commercialization of polymer solar cells (PSC) by
addressing the key bottleneck for their industrialization: limited access to inks for
solution processing of the solar cell’s active layer. The bottleneck will be addressed
by joining key Danish forces: DTU’s broad expertise in the PSC technology and
atomic-scaled modelling, Aalborg University’s understanding of the active layer,
infinityPV’s expertise in ink engineering, and Grafisk Maskinfabrik’s know-how on
machinery for roll-to-roll, solution processing. The project applies a holistic, topdown
approach starting from the industrial requirements set to cost-effective,
scaled processing of PSCs. These requirements are traced back to the ink and the
light-absorbing conjugated polymer comprised in it, and also to the processing
machinery. Cost-effectiveness and scalability are ensured via machine automation,
via robust inks that opens an adequate processing window, via flow synthesis of
the polymer and via a synthetic route with a minimum number of steps. The
project’s tangible outputs are: a light-absorbing conjugated polymers giving access
to PSCs with > 6% efficiency, inks for scaled processing of such cells, and
machinery for processing of the cell’s active layer. The project contributes to
research education of 5 Postdocs and 1 PhD. The project’s commercial potential is
increased sales for the industrial partners, and thus growth and creation of new
jobs. The scientific potential is a systematic method for optimization of lightabsorbing
polymers, and with systematic methods come deeper understanding and
progressively also faster progress. The societal potential of the project is the
development of a technology capable of cutting CO2 emissions from the electricity
production.