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PNNL, Vitex developing process to help protect flexible solar power shingles
SAN JOSE, Calif., Jun. 04, 2009 – A transparent thin film barrier used to protect flat panel TVs from moisture
could become the basis for flexible solar panels that would be installed on roofs like shingles.
The flexible rooftop solar panels - called building-integrated photovoltaics, or BIPVs - could replace today's boxy
solar panels that are made with rigid glass or silicon and mounted on thick metal frames. The flexible solar
shingles would be less expensive to install than current panels and made to last 25 years.
"There's a lot of wasted space on rooftops that could actually be used to generate power," said Mark Gross, a
senior scientist at the Department of Energy's Pacific Northwest National Laboratory. "Flexible solar panels could
easily become integrated into the architecture of commercial buildings and homes. Solar panels have had limited
success because they've been difficult and expensive to install."
Researchers at PNNL will create these flexible panels by adapting a film encapsulation process currently used to
coat flat panel displays that use organic light-emitting diodes, or OLEDs. The work is made possible by a
Cooperative Research and Development Agreement recently penned between Vitex Systems and Battelle, which
operates PNNL for the federal government.
PNNL researchers developed the thin film technology in the 1990s. At the time, the lab's team investigated 15
possible applications, including solar power. Vitex licensed the technology from Battelle in 2000 and focused its
initial efforts on developing the ultra-barrier films for flat-panel displays. Now PNNL and Vitex are taking a hard
second look at solar power.
The encapsulation process and the ultra-barrier film - called Barix™ Encapsulation and Barix™ Barrier Film,
respectively - are already proven and effective moisture barriers. But researchers need to find a way to apply
the technology to solar panels, which are also called photovoltaics, or PVs. Under the agreement, researchers
will create low-cost flexible barrier films and evaluate substrate materials for solar panels. Both the film and
substrate must be able to survive harsh ultraviolet rays and natural elements like rain and hail for 25 years.
The agreement also calls for researchers to develop a manufacturing process for the flexible panels that can be
readily adapted to large-scale production. If successful,this process will reduce solar panel manufacturing costs
to less than $1 per watt of power, which would be competitive with the 10 cents per kilowatt-hour that a utility
would charge.
"Vitex is proud to continue its long, successful relationship with PNNL," said Martin Rosenblum, Vitex's vice
president of operations and engineering. "Vitex is excited to further its Barix™ technology's proven barrier
performance for photovoltaics toward mass manufacturing. Together, we look forward to creating a product
that will help alleviate America's dependence on foreign oil and increase America's access to an abundant
renewable energy source - the sun."
Battelle, which is the majority shareholder of Vitex, is optimistic that this research agreement will contribute to a
new way of generating solar power. Battelle recently increased its investment in Vitex for new state-of-the-art
thin film encapsulation equipment and expanded its intellectual property portfolio.
"We're confident that Vitex will be uniquely positioned to help meet the demand for flexible solar panels, OLED
displays and lighting that should rise along with the economy," said Martin Inglis, Battelle's chief financial officer.
PNNL's research efforts will be paid for with up to $350,000 from the DOE's Energy Efficiency and Renewable
Energy Technology Commercialization Fund. Last year, DOE announced that up to $1.5 million from the fund
would be available to PNNL for projects that help commercialize technologies that reduce energy use or tap
renewable energy sources. Because the fund requires commercial partners to match funding, Vitex will provide
up to $350,900 of in-kind labor, equipment and materials for this project.
Vitex Systems Inc., headquartered in San Jose, Calif., licenses a proprietary encapsulation solution, Barix™, as
well as deposition systems and next-generation flexible barrier substrates, that enable the cost-effective
production of organic light-emitting diode (OLED) displays that are lighter and thinner than any other
commercially available displays. Vitex's technology can also be used to address a wide array of photovoltaic and
optoelectronic applications. The company was incubated at Battelle, the world's largest independent private non-
profit research foundation, and was spun off as an independent company.
Battelle is the world's largest non-profit independent research and development organization, providing
innovative solutions to the world's most pressing needs through its four global businesses: Laboratory
Management, National Security, Energy Technology, and Health and Life Sciences. It advances scientific
discovery and application by conducting $5.2 billion in global R&D annually through contract research, laboratory
management and technology commercialization. Headquartered in Columbus, Ohio, Battelle oversees 20,400
employees in more than 130 locations worldwide, including seven national laboratories which Battelle manages
or co-manages for the U.S. Department of Energy and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and two
international laboratories—a nuclear energy lab in the United Kingdom and a renewable energy lab in Malaysia.
Pacific Northwest National Laboratory is a Department of Energy Office of Science national laboratory where
interdisciplinary teams advance science and technology and deliver solutions to America's most intractable
problems in energy, national security and the environment. PNNL employs 4,250 staff, has a $918 million annual
budget, and has been managed by Ohio-based Battelle since the lab's inception in 1965. Follow PNNL on
Facebook, Linked In and Twitter.
About Vitex Systems
Vitex Systems, Inc., headquartered in San Jose, Calif., licenses a proprietary encapsulation solution, Barix™, as
well as deposition systems and next-generation flexible barrier substrates, that enable the cost-effective
production of organic light-emitting diode (OLED) displays that are lighter and thinner than any other
commercially available displays. Vitex's technology can also be used to address a wide array of photovoltaic and
optoelectronic applications. The company was incubated at Battelle, the world's largest independent private non-
profit research foundation, and was spun off as an independent company.
For more information on Vitex Systems, visit www.vitexsys.com.
Contacts:
Chyi-Shan Suen
Vitex Systems, Inc.
Phone: 408.325.0366
Fax: 408.519.4470
Email: csuen@vitexsys.com
<< Return to Press Release Index
SAN JOSE, Calif., Jun. 04, 2009 – A transparent thin film barrier used to protect flat panel TVs from moisture
could become the basis for flexible solar panels that would be installed on roofs like shingles.
The flexible rooftop solar panels - called building-integrated photovoltaics, or BIPVs - could replace today's boxy
solar panels that are made with rigid glass or silicon and mounted on thick metal frames. The flexible solar
shingles would be less expensive to install than current panels and made to last 25 years.
"There's a lot of wasted space on rooftops that could actually be used to generate power," said Mark Gross, a
senior scientist at the Department of Energy's Pacific Northwest National Laboratory. "Flexible solar panels could
easily become integrated into the architecture of commercial buildings and homes. Solar panels have had limited
success because they've been difficult and expensive to install."
Researchers at PNNL will create these flexible panels by adapting a film encapsulation process currently used to
coat flat panel displays that use organic light-emitting diodes, or OLEDs. The work is made possible by a
Cooperative Research and Development Agreement recently penned between Vitex Systems and Battelle, which
operates PNNL for the federal government.
PNNL researchers developed the thin film technology in the 1990s. At the time, the lab's team investigated 15
possible applications, including solar power. Vitex licensed the technology from Battelle in 2000 and focused its
initial efforts on developing the ultra-barrier films for flat-panel displays. Now PNNL and Vitex are taking a hard
second look at solar power.
The encapsulation process and the ultra-barrier film - called Barix™ Encapsulation and Barix™ Barrier Film,
respectively - are already proven and effective moisture barriers. But researchers need to find a way to apply
the technology to solar panels, which are also called photovoltaics, or PVs. Under the agreement, researchers
will create low-cost flexible barrier films and evaluate substrate materials for solar panels. Both the film and
substrate must be able to survive harsh ultraviolet rays and natural elements like rain and hail for 25 years.
The agreement also calls for researchers to develop a manufacturing process for the flexible panels that can be
readily adapted to large-scale production. If successful,this process will reduce solar panel manufacturing costs
to less than $1 per watt of power, which would be competitive with the 10 cents per kilowatt-hour that a utility
would charge.
"Vitex is proud to continue its long, successful relationship with PNNL," said Martin Rosenblum, Vitex's vice
president of operations and engineering. "Vitex is excited to further its Barix™ technology's proven barrier
performance for photovoltaics toward mass manufacturing. Together, we look forward to creating a product
that will help alleviate America's dependence on foreign oil and increase America's access to an abundant
renewable energy source - the sun."
Battelle, which is the majority shareholder of Vitex, is optimistic that this research agreement will contribute to a
new way of generating solar power. Battelle recently increased its investment in Vitex for new state-of-the-art
thin film encapsulation equipment and expanded its intellectual property portfolio.
"We're confident that Vitex will be uniquely positioned to help meet the demand for flexible solar panels, OLED
displays and lighting that should rise along with the economy," said Martin Inglis, Battelle's chief financial officer.
PNNL's research efforts will be paid for with up to $350,000 from the DOE's Energy Efficiency and Renewable
Energy Technology Commercialization Fund. Last year, DOE announced that up to $1.5 million from the fund
would be available to PNNL for projects that help commercialize technologies that reduce energy use or tap
renewable energy sources. Because the fund requires commercial partners to match funding, Vitex will provide
up to $350,900 of in-kind labor, equipment and materials for this project.
Vitex Systems Inc., headquartered in San Jose, Calif., licenses a proprietary encapsulation solution, Barix™, as
well as deposition systems and next-generation flexible barrier substrates, that enable the cost-effective
production of organic light-emitting diode (OLED) displays that are lighter and thinner than any other
commercially available displays. Vitex's technology can also be used to address a wide array of photovoltaic and
optoelectronic applications. The company was incubated at Battelle, the world's largest independent private non-
profit research foundation, and was spun off as an independent company.
Battelle is the world's largest non-profit independent research and development organization, providing
innovative solutions to the world's most pressing needs through its four global businesses: Laboratory
Management, National Security, Energy Technology, and Health and Life Sciences. It advances scientific
discovery and application by conducting $5.2 billion in global R&D annually through contract research, laboratory
management and technology commercialization. Headquartered in Columbus, Ohio, Battelle oversees 20,400
employees in more than 130 locations worldwide, including seven national laboratories which Battelle manages
or co-manages for the U.S. Department of Energy and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and two
international laboratories—a nuclear energy lab in the United Kingdom and a renewable energy lab in Malaysia.
Pacific Northwest National Laboratory is a Department of Energy Office of Science national laboratory where
interdisciplinary teams advance science and technology and deliver solutions to America's most intractable
problems in energy, national security and the environment. PNNL employs 4,250 staff, has a $918 million annual
budget, and has been managed by Ohio-based Battelle since the lab's inception in 1965. Follow PNNL on
Facebook, Linked In and Twitter.
About Vitex Systems
Vitex Systems, Inc., headquartered in San Jose, Calif., licenses a proprietary encapsulation solution, Barix™, as
well as deposition systems and next-generation flexible barrier substrates, that enable the cost-effective
production of organic light-emitting diode (OLED) displays that are lighter and thinner than any other
commercially available displays. Vitex's technology can also be used to address a wide array of photovoltaic and
optoelectronic applications. The company was incubated at Battelle, the world's largest independent private non-
profit research foundation, and was spun off as an independent company.
For more information on Vitex Systems, visit www.vitexsys.com.
Contacts:
Chyi-Shan Suen
Vitex Systems, Inc.
Phone: 408.325.0366
Fax: 408.519.4470
Email: csuen@vitexsys.com
<< Return to Press Release Index
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