Greek startup OET to start manufacturing flexible solar panels

Thessaloniki-based Organic Electronic Technologies (OET) secured European funds for a pilot plant for the production of third-generation photovoltaics, which will be used in buildings and greenhouses and integrated into electric cars.

Greek company Organic Electronic Technologies or OET teamed up with the Lab for Thin Films – Nanobiomaterials – Nanosystems and Nanometrology (LTFN) at Aristotle University to lead a project for upscaling the production of thin, light, flexible and semitransparent solar power panels in different colors. EUR 21.2 million was obtained through the European Union’s Horizon program f0r the Flex2Energy endeavor established in Thessaloniki, Greece’s second-largest city.

The startup is printing third-generation photovoltaics using nanotechnologies, which enables various applications. According to the presentation, the pilot plant will reach an annual capacity of one million square meters by the end of 2025.

The Hellenic Organic and Printed Electronic Association HOPE-A participates in the project together with 14 industrial and research institutions from Greece, France, Germany, Hungary, Lithuania, Italy and Romania. The innovative technology is planned to be tested in buildings, greenhouses and electric cars.

The planned automated manufacturing line for integrated printed organic photovoltaics is intended to roll out a range of formats and combinations with other materials.

The idea behind the development of translucent and flexible solar panels is to fit the photovoltaics technology within makeshift, mobile and solid structures. For example, such solutions can widen the purpose of greenhouses, shifting them to the agrivoltaics realm, or turn car parks and windows of a building into power plants.

Flex2Energy was unveiled together with COPE-Nano, a project for the creation of specialized institutes for flexible organic, printed electronics and photovoltaics; bioelectronics and nanomedicine; and advanced nanomaterials, nanoengineering and nanosystems, alongside a center for applying the technologies. It received EUR 15 million through Horizon and a matching sum from the Greek government.

According to the announcement, several hundred high-tech jobs would be created.