Polish scientist Olga Malinkiewicz and the team she leads at Saule Technologies have won the European Inventor Award for their work in developing a printable solar cell that is cheaper and more flexible than traditional photovoltaics and can even produce power from artificial light.
They won in the small and medium enterprises category and were also chosen by the public for the popular prize award.
The European Patent Office (EPO), which presented the awards, hailed Malinkiewicz’s team for “advancing solar energy technology with their cost-effective and environmentally friendly” perovskite solar cells, which “could boost global renewable energy generation as a lightweight and flexible method of harnessing solar energy”.
Saule Technologies launched its, and the world’s, first production line of printed perovskite cells in the city of Wroclaw in 2021. It produces thin, lightweight and flexible solar panels that are inkjet coated with a layer of perovskite. The cell comprises thin layers of organic film placed between two thin films of conductive electrodes.
The company claims that these are not only more efficient than silicon panels but are also cheaper to produce because perovskite does not require very high temperatures in the moulding process. They can be used in indoor spaces, such as with the dynamic in-store labels the company launched in Poland in 2021.
In December 2023, the company became the first to receive approval from a leading certification body for perovskite cells. (Notes from Poland)