The new $6 million manufacturing line at Plextronics Inc. in Harmar is designed to provide a link between the laboratories where that technology is being perfected and the manufacturers that eventually will produce it for consumers. The company known for its "electronic ink" technology will mark the opening of the development, or "D" line with a ceremony today.

The "D-line" that will be operated by 10 workers scales up the technology, using kilograms of ink in a series of machines that can, for example, turn out 6-inch square photovoltaic, or solar, panels.

The company's inks are being geared for use in organic light emitting diodes (OLED), the next-generation LED lighting that can produce vivid colors in more intense displays, on thinner and even flexible surfaces such as a TV screen. And solar-powered lighting could provide nighttime illumination, for the first time, to remote areas of India, for example, Thompson said.

OLED technology at this point, Chaddock said, "isn't well established for illumination. There are few products, if any, that are being manufactured."

While he is familiar with Plextronics, Chaddock said, generally "anything that moves OLED technology closer to being a viable product" will help advance the lighting industry toward the Energy Department's goal.
Source