LG Display – Solar Cell e-Book Announced

13th October, 2009 by adina
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An e-book powered by an in-house developed solar cell was recently unveiled by LG Display, company’s officials estimating a raise in the demand of such devices in the next future.

The Seoul-based company features a 10 centimeters in width and length thin-film solar cell, perfectly designed to fit the 6-inch display panel for LG Display e-book. The solar cell is 0.7 milimeter thick (0.028”) and is weighing a mere 20 grams (0.7oz), being thinner than a credit card and having about the weight of a fountain pen.

The technology used by LG Display implies placing electrodes onto glass or plastic substrate, contrary to the generally adopted solution that uses crystalline solar cells based on silicon wafers. The thin-film solar cell is light-weight and easily adjustable as size and form, making it ideal for applications such as mobile phones and e-books.

The current efficiency rate of energy conversion is about 9.6 percent. Exposing to sunlight for five or even four hours extends the running time of the phone or e-book’s battery by a day, allowing longer outdoor use.

According to LG Display officials (Mr. Ki Yong Kim, head of the Solar Cell Office), e-books are more and more attracting attention because they offer the possibility of storing thousands of books in a comfortable way and the idea of e-book combined with a solar cell will improve the benefit of long usage.

The company will continue to improve the characteristics of the thin-film solar cell. The next goal is to raise the energy conversion efficiency rate to 12 percent by 2010 and to 14 percent in 2012.


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