EU Commissioner Very Impressed by Her Visit to Heliatek

EU Commissioner Máire Geoghegan-Quinn visited Heliatek on Dec. 4, 2012, during her two-day visit of the high-tech cluster in the Free State of Saxony. Heliatek founders and management informed the EU Commissioner on current research projects in the field of organic electronics to give her an exclusive glimpse on what is yet to come.

After this look into the future, a tour of the world’s first roll-to-roll production line, that uses low temperature vacuum deposition for the manufacture of organic solar films, showed what has already been achieved regarding this disruptive technology.

“I am delighted to be visiting Saxony, one of the leading micro-electronic clusters in the world, and a region which is also very active in transport, photonics, biotechnology and other sectors. Saxony is doing targeted R&D and raising European competitiveness at a time when we desperately need high-tech growth and jobs. That is why the European Commission is supporting research here with funding from our Framework Programmes, and why I am sure we will continue that support in the new Horizon 2020 programme,” said Geoghegan-Quinn.

EU Commissioner Geoghegan-Quinn was very impressed during her visit of Heliatek. The company has recently started its production of organic solar films with the world’s first roll-to-roll production line with vacuum deposition at low temperatures. This state-of-the-art solar technology will allow many industries to reinvent their field of business and develop new applications to support energy transition.

Thanks to its unique properties, the solar films can be integrated as energy harvesting components into a number of existing applications. They also allow for completely new applications within various industries that were not possible with traditional PV technologies. Industries such as building and construction, automotive and transport, or electronics and consumer products will benefit from this new development. Furthermore, the organic material, the organic PV technology and the production processes are patented, and so are giving a leading edge to both Saxony and the EU in this new field. Finally, society can benefit from this truly green technology which requires a very little amount of non-toxic material and does not rely on any toxic production processes.

“While we are a solar company, we are not producing modules or panels,” said Thibaud Le Séguillon, CEO of Heliatek. “Our solar film is an energy harvesting component ready to be integrated in a number of materials and applications such as glass, concrete or polycarbonate. We are delighted to be able to show to the Commissioner today how far we have been able to go with the support of the EU. This is only the beginning for Heliatek. After having proven our technology and our process, we now need to validate our market strategy and develop the sales of our solar films. The continuing support of the Free State of Saxony, Germany and the EU is key to our future success.”