Heliatek’s organic solar films – A truly green electricity generating technology

A truly green electricity generating technology

Dresden, 22.10.2019
Heliatek, the world-leader in organic solar energy solutions, announces
today that its award-winning technology have been certified by TÜV
Rheinland in a Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) to have a carbon footprint of
less than 16 kg CO2e/m2. For a sustainable future under the advancing
climate change, the growing energy demand of our planet must be
supplied by eco-friendly, low carbon energy sources. Heliatek has
developed industrial-grade organic solar films for virtually any surface of
any building, thereby delivering energy solutions that make a significant
contribution to avoid greenhouse gas emissions.
Heliatek’s organic solar films already save the CO2e (CO2 equivalent)
generated through its entire life cycle from production to its disposal after
less than 3 months. “We are proud to announce that we are delivering
one of the greenest ways to generate electricity while massively avoiding
greenhouse gas emissions. The unique composition of our organic solar
films with non-toxic materials and the PET based protection films will even
make disposal hassle-free and environmentally friendly at the same time.”
says Guido van Tartwijk, CEO of Heliatek.
To compare the carbon footprint with other solar technologies, all results
need to be converted to g CO2e/kWh to reflect the electricity generation
over lifetime depending on a specific location. For South Europe, HeliaSol®
has a carbon footprint of 5-7 g CO2e/kWh (7-9 g CO2e/kWh in Central
Europe), which is already beating all other solar technologies.
Standard crystalline silicon modules achieve values of 40-100 g CO2e
/kWh depending on their installation location and origin of production.
“With the continuing increase of our solar cell efficiency, we will bring the
carbon footprint of our product even further down to become the energy
source with the lowest carbon footprint in the world including
hydroelectric, wind and solar power. This is a truly green product.“, says
Jan Birnstock, CTO of Heliatek.
Heliatek is currently installing its large-scale production line for their unique
OPV solar films. The line is in the ramp-up phase and will produce organic
solar films with an annual capacity of up to 1 million m² from mid-2020.
About the Life Cycle Assessment from TÜV Rheinland
As one of the first companies in the solar industry, TÜV Rheinland has certified Heliatek’s HeliaSol®
in a Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) in accordance to ISO 14040/44. This analyze provides a structured
and comprehensive method to quantify the potential environmental impact of material and
energy flows of all stages of a product life, from acquisition of raw materials over the production
and use up to end-of-life treatment including all transportation/delivery routes (“Cradle-to-
Grave”). The location-specific conversion to g CO2e/kWh was calculated by Heliatek.