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 10th 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
www.hemenparekh.in
/ blogs
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