Largest ever solar curtain wall graces PV factory

A company that makes lightweight plastic solar panels is practicing what it preaches by installing its technology at its own facility in Massachusetts.

According to Konarka Technologies, the deployment in New Bedford is the largest organic photovoltaic (OPV) installation of its kind. It’s also the first-ever , semi-transparent OPV curtain wall that’s actually been integrated into a building, as opposed to simply being installed on a rooftop or other location.

Organic photovoltaics are solar cells made with organic polymers or organic molecules that absorb light or carry electrical charges.

“Organic PV is much less energy intensive to manufacture compared with crystalline silicon,” says Howard Berke, chairman, CEO and co-founder of Konarka. He adds that the company’s Power Plastic, as its photovoltaic film is called, is ideal for glass curtain walls because it’s lightweight, sensitive to low light levels and performs well over a wide range of sunlight angles.

In the New Bedford facility, Konarka’s Power Plastic is installed in both south- and east-facing walls. Being able to integrate solar panels into multiple walls delivers greater electrical output. Typical solar installations occur on rooftops, although there is generally far more area to accommodate PV system integration in building walls, especially in multi-story buildings.

San Francisco’s Municipal Transportation Agency is using Konarka’s solar film in a different way: as translucent, energy-generating rooftops for new bus shelters being installed across the city. It expects to have 300 such shelters up by 2014. The company Traveler’s Choice has also incorporated Power Plastic into a line of solar-powered travel bags.