Chai and Why ? #OLED

This is the name of a “ citizen awareness “ program being held every Sunday ( 11 am ) at Prithvi Theatres ( Juhu / Mumbai ) . I believe , it is arranged by TIFR and now , celebrating 10^th year

Last month , I attended this program , which focussed on OLED ( Organic Light Emitting Diodes )

It was a demo-lecture by Prof Amitabh Banerji of the University of Koln ( Germany )

Prof Banerji is currently touring India with a few of his students and giving demo-lectures at various Indian Universities

During the talk , Prof Banerji actually “ constructed “ a small OLED on a piece of glass , with the help of tools / chemicals that he carried in a KIT ( - a small plastic bag )

In Germany , Koln University sells this KIT BAG for Euro 500

Prof Banerji has given a few KITS to Prof Bhattacharya of TIFR , for propagating the concept of OLED

I will not go into the detailed ( but, extremely SIMPLE ) process of constructing a OLED , within a few minutes , even by a School-going child !

When that small ( 2 inch by 2 inch ) piece of glass , turned into a OLED , audience could see ( on the screen ) , actual glow of light when a small current was passed through the conducting layer on the glass

By reversing the process and shining a bright light ( from a torch or a lamp ) , it was shown that a small current flowed in the circuit !

I asked Prof Banerji :

“  Can flexible plastic OLED of much higher capacities , be mounted on roof-tops of Electric Cars , to produce enough power to charge a small Lithium Battery ?

Can this replace glass-based PV Solar Panels which ISRO mounted on an OMNI ( in May 2017 ) to charge its battery for 150 Km run ?

If technology advances sufficient enough for commercial production of high capacity flexible OLED Solar Power generator for car roof-tops , can this mean continuous charging of Li-ion batteries , eliminating ( - or , at least , vastly reducing ) the need for Battery Charging Stations for India’s proposed 6 million Electric Vehicles on the roads , by 2022 ? “

Prof Banerji answered :

“ Very good question .

This is bound to happen , may be within 10 years .

Unfortunately , current constraints are :

#   Plastic-based OLED have a low conversion efficiency , of around 6 % as against 16 %

     - 25 % for a glass-based PV cell

#   These are unstable and rapidly degrade in the presence of Oxygen and Ultra Violet

     Light

But advantage is :

-          a plastic-based OLED does not need direct sunlight . It can generate power , even in a diffused / indirect light ! 

-          Companies are experimenting with even OLED embedded wall paint for painting house exteriors , which can supply electricity to entire building “

If our Policy Makers ( in the Ministry for Renewable Energy / NITI Aayog / Transport Ministry ) want clarifications / directions , I am sure Prof Banerji ( a.banerji@uni-koeln.de  ) would be happy to help

21  Dec  2017

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