Printed Electronics Europe,7-8 April 2009,Dresden, Germany

• Published in: Circuit world Vol. 35; no. 3
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Bradford Emerald Group Publishing Limited 21.08.2009
• Subjects: Automobiles; Chocolate; Distribution costs; Drug delivery systems; Electronics; Games; Organic light emitting diodes; Photovoltaic cells; Radio frequency identification; Silicon films; Silicon wafers; Solar cells; Test vehicles; Thin films; Transistors; Europe; Germany
• ISSN: 0305-6120; 1758-602X
• DOI: 10.1108/cw.2009.21735cac.003

The surging interest in printed electronics, from the deeply involved to the mildly curious, has driven the subject to the forefront of corporate consideration, and now some major players in the consumables market have put together dedicated teams to discover what benefits printed electronics can bring to such mundane products as soap powder and chocolate bars. The emerging value chain is unbalanced, concluded Raghu, there is little market pull, but increasing interest is coming from end-users including the military consumer groups, and larger organisations are showing long-term commitment. FIAT have built and are running a test vehicle which incorporates much “smart” silicon thin film solar panels in its construction, and he claims that the use of on-board solar cells is not longer a costly exercise, and a small car could cover some 8,200 km/annum solely on solar power, although you would have to allow for the British climate when the figure drops to a mere 15 km/day, hardly enough to get to the pub and back. 40 km/day would be the figure in Spain, where it is of course, a lot sunnier. Matt talked about his company, and their core competencies; and how they partner with their clients through from concept to product; prototype design, manufacture (one example being a flexible drug delivery patch with user interactive RFID as medical consumables with increased functionality) and application.