LEGATO

Development of organic photovoltaic modules (OPV) with high efficiency, transparency and 3D integration in plastic parts.

The objective of the LEGATO project is to unveil the design and processing aspects that remain unexplored to enable the production of OPV modules with enhanced light use efficiency (LUE) and 3D integration.

LEGATO contributes to the improvement in energy performance of organic photovoltaics at affordable costs by implementing high throughput manufacturing processes, including a versatile laser patterning methodology. Its main ambition is to conceive new design and processing guidelines for the advanced manufacturing of OPV modules.

Research and innovation activities at LEGATO are arrenged into four major stages:

• Selection of eco-friendly materials following transparency/color criteria and compatibility with plastic processing.
• Module design and laser patterning process.
• OPV module manufacturing on rigid (glass) and flexible (plastic) substrates.
• Integration of the flexible OPV modules into 3D plastic parts through thermoforming and/or over-injection moulding.

LEGATO manufactures and integrates OPV modules in two specific use cases: transparent OPV on glass for power-generating windows and 3D-shaped OPV integrated on structural plastic parts for indoor IoT applications.

LEGATO is a project coordinated by Eurecat’s Functional Printing and Embedded Systems Unit, which leads the design and manufacturing of the new OPV modules. The Plastic Materials Unit works on the advanced integration of OPV modules into 3D shapes.