At PacPrint 2017, one of the most exciting innovations PKN observed was the pop-up printed solar demonstration put on by the University of Newcastle (UON). We spoke to Prof Paul Dastoor about this ground-breaking development.
A custom built pop-up site for Australia's to demonstrate printed solar technology, encompassing an electronic ink and printing process pioneered by Prof Paul Dastoor and his team at the University of Newcastle (UON), attracted many visitors at PacPrint.
It was the first-ever public display of the technology and visitors were be able to touch the material and walk through and beneath it.
In this short video, creator of the technology, Prof Paul Dastoor, explains how the material is printed on laminated sheets using electronic ink and conventional printing presses:
The printed solar material can be rapidly manufactured, enabling accelerated deployment into the marketplace.
“No other renewable energy solution can be manufactured as quickly. On our lab-scale printer we can easily produce hundreds of metres of material per day, on a commercial-scale printer this would increase to kilometres. If you had just ten of these printers operating around the clock we could print enough material to deliver power to 1000 homes per day,” said Professor Dastoor.
“The low-cost and speed at which this technology can be deployed is exciting, particularly in the current Australian energy context where we need to find solutions, and quickly, to reduce demand on base-load power.”
The material is made by printing an advanced electronic ink onto paper thin, clear laminated sheets using conventional printing presses.
“On the back of five years of in-house development, all of the components of these advanced electronic inks are now synthesised at scale within our Centre for Organic Electronics using non-toxic carbon-based materials. These components are then used directly or further processed into water-based inks and paints,” said Professor Dastoor.
While Professor Dastoor’s electronic ink is rewriting our energy future, it may also create beneficial new markets in the printing industry.
The material will deliver a new, ‘functional printing’ revenue stream for the printing industry – the second largest manufacturing industry in Australia.
The technology has already attracted its first commercial partner, global logistics solutions company CHEP.
CHEP Australia’s senior manager, Sustainability Asia-Pacific Lachlan Feggans said they were working with UON to rollout a commercial scale pilot installation of organic printed solar on the roof of one of its service centres next financial year.
“Through our collaboration with UON, we see the potential to make CHEP’s inherently sustainable business model even better. Our aim is to develop better supply chains, but we recognise that this begins with sustainability in our own operations,” said Feggans.
