Printed Photovoltaics Facility

A new pilot-scale roll-to-roll (R2R) printing, coating and lamination machine was installed recently in a purpose-built climate-controlled ISO-8 workspace. The modular design of this equipment includes several printing/coating stations and associated dryers, with readily interchangeable heads allowing ink deposition using slot-die or micro-gravure coating, and flexographic or rotary screen printing, at widths up to 300 mm. The unwind module is equipped with in-line corona surface treatment and substrate cleaning, and the rewind module is designed for protective encapsulation of completed printed PV devices in an inert (nitrogen) atmosphere. This new pilot-scale fabrication facility was established with funding from the ACAP Infrastructure Fund and CSIRO Manufacturing and enables pilot-scale production of printed PV films for the demonstration of novel PV applications.