Konarka’s roll-to-roll process simplifies manufacturing scale-up and has significantly lower capital and labor costs than previous generations of solar cells.  The process is non-toxic and environmentally friendly, and because it’s conducted at low temperatures, is less energy intensive than 1st or 2nd generation technologies.  Another significant advantage is that it can be produced using existing coating and printing equipment, and thus does not require construction of a new facility.  The simplicity and modularity of the process means that, finally, solar material can be manufactured and used virtually anywhere in the world where there is demand for power.

Compared to the manufacture of traditional silicon-based solar panels, Konarka offers several advantages:

• Significantly lower cost for new plant construction
• Lower manufacturing energy cost
• Existing facilities can often be retrofitted at much lower cost

Konarka’s Current Manufacturing Capacity

Manufacturing Plant

Konarka’s New Bedford MA 276,000 s.f. manufacturing facility will become fully operational in early 2009.

At Konarka’s headquarters in Lowell, MA, we have the in-house ability to produce material for use by our technical team and application partners for prototype testing and development.

Commercial production of our standard and custom Power Plastic panels is currently focused in a former Polaroid plant in New Bedford, MA where traditional photographic film was made.  Because the process of manufacturing Power Plastic is similar, we were able to easily retrofit the plant and benefit from the expertise and experience of former Polaroid employees. In New Bedford,  we are ramping up to be able to produce Power Plastic in variable widths up to 60” wide at the rate of 30m/minute for an annual production capacity of 1 gigawatt.