As we enter summer 2007 the European Union’s initiatives for eco-design of energy using products, known as the EuP directive, is about to come online. The European Union member states have until August 11, 2007 to adapt the two-year-old EU legislation into the framework of national law.

The EuP is seen by many as the latest in a series of EU directives designed to lead industry towards environmental responsibility. To date, much of what industry has done with regard to DfE initiatives is more akin to lip service vs. the strong actions that will be needed to stem the growing energy crisis and avert negative environmental impact. The EuP stops short of covering energy used for transportation, including cars, trains and airplanes. It does, however, cover all other energy consuming products regardless of energy type and could actually have a much further reaching impact than RoHS on the way that companies do business.

Working in tandem with regulations to curb energy use are a growing number of programs and companies active in research and fledgling production of alternative energy systems. One of the more interesting of these technologies, flexible solar cells, use many processes borrowed from the electronics industry. The newer techniques used to generate these flexible cells include thin film deposition similar to semiconductor processing and thick film printing not unlike what is currently used by assembly operations to apply precision pastes and adhesives. The base materials are even familiar, with polyimide being one of the more common. The latest generation of solar cells has moved away from a rigid crystalline silicon base onto various flexible materials. Cost certainly was one driver for this change, but there are performance advantages as well. Some flexible cells still use silicon in the build up layers, beginning with a vapor deposited of amorphous silicon that adsorbs sunlight 40 times more efficiently than its crystalline cousin.

Companies like Miasolé (miasole.com), DayStar Technologies (daystartech.com), Konarka Technologies (konarkatech.com), Nanosolar (nanosolar.com), PowerFilm Solar (powerfilmsolar.com), StarSolar (starsolar.net), Heliovolt (heliovolt.net) and others in conjunction with research programs at the MIT, University of Delaware, Wake Forest University and NASA to name a few, are leading the way.

The applications are diverse. The lower cost associated with polymer solar cell technology is making it practical to consider solar power for many low power/low cost usages including toys, sensors, RFID tags, watches or smart cards. For the higher power consumption associated with PDAs, cell phones, cameras and computers, the technology is still a few years away. The meeting of semiconductor thin film technology and nano materials has many hopeful that higher-powered electronics will be practically solar powered in the near future. One of the most common manufacturing processes for flexible solar cells begins with a polyimide carrier deposited with a thin layer of molybdenum. On top of that there is a multilayer construction beginning with the CIGS layer, a vapor-deposited layer of copper, indium, gallium and diselenide. This can be topped with cadmium sulfide, zinc oxide and indium tin oxide to enhance performance.

On the horizon is the incorporation of carbon nanotubes into the matrix. Nanotechnology promises to revolutionize this still infant industry. The University of Notre Dame has demonstrated that nanoparticles have an excellent potential in solar cell applications. The carbon nanotubes absorb light and generate electrons. They can help discontinuous materials like titanium oxide be more efficient. The work in this area will result in cheaper and more efficient solar cells.

Like the promise of printed electronics, flexible solar cell technology is borrowing some of the best techniques from semiconductor and PCB manufacturing operations and adding to it new perspectives and higher levels of funding. Venture capital investments in clean energy sources like solar were nearly $1 billion in 2005 and continue to increase annually. Government funding including DARPA programs, coupled with healthy tax credits for early application of the technology, round out the attraction.

Collaboration on solar ventures by the electronics industry can create many opportunities for technology advancements that will benefit both industries and the environment. The supply base for process equipment and chemicals have a number of common denominators. Thus the improved printing capabilities that are needed for high resolution fuel cell applications once developed for flexible solar cells can be applied back to assembly or used to address higher resolution demands of printed electronics or PCB imaging. There are even a few PCB fabricators diversifying into solar cell manufacturing, including Unimicron in Taiwan.

The combination of legislative measures like the EuP and innovation in the area of alternative energy will help reduce our dependency on fossil fuel. Innovations in alternative energy may also lead to new technologies that can be reapplied to meet the needs of the electronics industry in the future.