Konarka Technologies IncKonarka is a semi-commercial offshoot from the University of Massachusetts in the United States. The company is heavily involved in research and development into the commercial viability of plastic polymer based solar cells. The company has had a lot of success in this area and currently has plastic based thin film solar modules ready to go into commercial production. At present their solar cells are approximately 6% efficient which is considered to be the lower end of what is commercially viable. The company's thin film printing technology is similar to that employed by Nanosolar. 
Their solar panels are flexible and so are suited to a range of applications unavailable to traditional solar technologies. Possible areas of use include clothing and other fabrics such as tents. It is clear that there are definitely possible military applications for these types of solar cells.FundingKonarka's financing comes from a mixture of private business and government sources. A total of over $170 million US dollars has been raised. $150 million of this is from private sources with the remaining $20 million coming from government research funding. The company has also been approached by Germany's Federal Ministry of Education and Research to head a consortium aimed at increasing the lifespan of the plastic cells, and has committed over $2.5 million to the project. Increased EfficiencyThey are fiercely pursuing new technologies to increase the efficiency of their basic printed solar cell design, though time will tell whether these avenues yield any improvement in rates of sunlight conversion. One method currently under investigation is a layered approach to the cells, allowing more light to be converted to electricity per unit area. The company suggests that this method could raise conversion rates as high as 15%, a significant improvement over the current technology. However, this is likely to undermine the low cost method of printing cells that the company currently uses to produce its ultra-cheap solar cells. At present the biggest barrier to the full commercialization of their plastic solar cells is their short lifespan. The plastic cells are cheap to produce but have a lifespan limited to a few years. This is quite poor compared to the 25+ year operational range of silicon solar cells and even makes the ten year lifespan of thin film panels look good. SummaryKonarka is a bit of a long shot in terms of the technology they are pursuing, mainly in terms of the quantities of unknowns they are dealing with. If they come through with the goods and can mass produce solar cells at high efficiency and low cost, everybody will benefit. Given the highly research oriented focus of this company, it is likely that funding for its developments will be forthcoming for years into the future. return from Konarka to Green Investments or return to the Green Planet home page for more Solar Power Facts.
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