Unique material for new generation solar cells one step closer to market

A team of researchers at Kaunas University of Technology (KTU), together with Swiss physicists, has synthesised a unique material for next-generation solar elements. The organic semiconductors are cheaper and of the same efficiency as commercial semiconductors on the market.

"The material we created is considerably cheaper and the process of its synthesis is less complicated than that of the currently used analogue material. Also, both materials have very similar efficiency of converting solar energy into electricity. That means that our semiconductors have similar characteristics to the known alternatives, but are much cheaper," said professor Vytautas Getautis, head of the research group at KTU responsible for the discovery.

"We conceived, synthesised and characterised the new organic semiconductors, and our Swiss colleagues have tested them in solar elements," said Getautis.

Japanese company Tokyo Chemical Industry has approached researchers and started to negotiate the conditions of acquiring the licence after the new organic semiconductors were introduced at the international scientific conference in Lausanne.

"Licence in a way is similar to a lease contract—a patent is being exploited not by its owner, but the other person interested in commercialisation. Temporarily, the rights are being handed over to other party for a certain percentage-based fee from the patented technology. Licence agreements can be made both for application and for the patent itself, and the licence can be acquired by anyone interested in patented solution for commercial purposes," said Greta Zekiene, Head of Intellectual Property Management at KTU's National Innovation and Entrepreneurship Centre.

Every year, around 3 million patent applications are being submitted globally. In 2016, the licencing agreements were negotiated for 4 KTU inventions.

Provided by Kaunas University of Technology