Display company powers up prospects

Daily Newsletters

Sign up to ZDNet UK's daily newsletter.

NEWS
Cambridge Display Technology will use a grant to brighten the prospects for solar cells as well as flat-panel monitors. CDT announced on Wednesday that it has been awarded a grant from the UK government's Department of Trade and Industry for plastic solar cell research and development. The grant will help the privately held company develop efficient and commercially viable solar cells using its light-emitting polymer (LEP) screen technology. Company representatives would not disclose the amount of the grant. "The grant is not enough to do the entire commercialisation of solar cells using LEP," said Stewart Hough, CDT's vice president of business development. "It's mainly just research seed money, but it comes at the most critical time for any emerging technology -- the early stages." The most significant implication in the use of CDT's technology is lowering the cost of solar cells. The cost of materials and the manufacturing of current solar cells can be up to four times more expensive than the solar cells that CDT is aiming to create. The goal for CDT is to make the cells less expensive, boosting the commercial availability of solar cells. Lowering the cost of manufacturing is the goal for the Cambridge, England-based company, which was founded in 1992 and employs about 130 workers. CDT's main business is not manufacturing displays, although it has the capacity to do so on a small scale; the company licenses its LEP technology to manufacturers such as Philips, Seiko Epson and DuPont. CDT's display technology helps manufacturers lower production costs by making the process less complex. The polymers, which are the main components in LEP display, can be sprayed or printed onto a substrate, or base. The polymers consist of materials that emit light so LEP displays don't require a backlight, allowing them to be thinner and lighter than liquid crystal displays (LCD) and potentially consuming less power than LCDs. Additionally, the polymers can be applied to a flexible substrate, such as plastic, which expands the number of places that screens can be used. While analysts believe that LEP technology will be a challenger to LCD for the screen market, it will likely be about 10 years before it is widely available in large sizes for use in notebooks and flat panel monitors. However, LED technology is picking up steam and is being used in cell phones. Dow Chemical announced Tuesday that it is expanding a facility that produces polymers for use in LEP displays, giving makers more access to one of the key materials used in LEP displays. The polymer solar cells have a similar design as CDT's polymer light-emitting displays, but instead of emitting light, researchers have been able to reverse the process so that the displays can generate electricity when light shines on a solar cell. Hough said that the company could be demonstrating prototypes within the next few years. CDT is also looking into a screen that can display information as well as act as a solar cell, but the company does not have prototypes of this sort of screen yet.
See the Hardware News Section for the latest update on everything from MP3 players and PDAs to supercomputing. Have your say instantly, and see what others have said. Go to the ZDNet news forum. Let the editors know what you think in the Mailroom.

Post your comment

In order to post a comment you need to be registered and logged in.

You can also log in with Facebook. Log in or create your ZDNet UK account below

  • Login

Will not be displayed with your comment

By signing up for this service, you indicate that you agree to our Terms and Conditions and have read and understood our Privacy Policy. Questions about membership? Find the answers in the Community FAQ

Get ZDNet UK's daily newsletter

Enter your email address to sign up

ZDNet UK Live

BrownieBoy

@Jack, > Works really well for thieves.... Nice attempt to deflect the argument by tossing in a point that's totally irrelevant, even it were...

58 minutes ago by BrownieBoy on AMD Ultrathins to challenge Intel Ultrabooks
bootlegger

Make that 13 people now - I got refused today at Manchester airport. I thought I was up to date on this legislation - I knew of the EU ruling from...

4 hours ago by bootlegger on UK airport body scans will not be opt out
tinycg

Don't forget to check out apps like GoodReader or SlideShark either, they're indispensible for people on the go in presentation situations. Best...

7 hours ago by tinycg on Four top iPad apps for people on the move
TerryRK

Well it seems there is something a number of us agree on. Why is the Ubuntu Unity launcher so ugly? I thought perhaps it was something to do with...

11 hours ago by TerryRK on A tale of two distros: Ubuntu and Linux Mint
Freebies202

Duplicate comments are not made intentionally. Its very good to know that now you are keeping check on this problem because sometimes a commenter...

21 hours ago by Freebies202 on Microsoft fixes blog comments, speeds up blogs with open source
kevinmchapman

"the very significant number of users" and "many (most) of us" - you have no evidence for these statements. It is a fact that most users are saying...

1 day ago by kevinmchapman on A tale of two distros: Ubuntu and Linux Mint
Marg Menzies Harrison

Another grammar faux pas is the improper use of "you". When sitting down down in a restaurant, for example, I get cringe when the waitress...

1 day ago by Marg Menzies Harrison via Facebook on 10 flagrant grammar mistakes that make you look stupid
zdnetukuser

And NOW, folks, for Canonical's next trick... Kubuntu is late. Here's a pencil. Draw your own conclusions. cf.:...

1 day ago by zdnetukuser on Linux Minterface
Moley

@kevinmchapman. The discussion here reflects the very significant number of users who really do like the traditional menu system and who wish to...

1 day ago by Moley on A tale of two distros: Ubuntu and Linux Mint
kevinmchapman

Er, no... It is an efficient means of finding the application/file/setting you need in one place. The icons are a simply a fallback for when you...

1 day ago by kevinmchapman on A tale of two distros: Ubuntu and Linux Mint
TerryRK

Isn't the provision of a text based search an admission by the developers that the mass of icons approach does not work? I don't need to use a...

1 day ago by TerryRK on A tale of two distros: Ubuntu and Linux Mint
kevinmchapman

"Unity and GNOME 3 both abandon the old text-based cascading menus in favour of a graphical icon-driven system." Point truly missed. Both use a...

2 days ago by kevinmchapman on A tale of two distros: Ubuntu and Linux Mint
TerryRK

whs001 - Thank you, I'm glad you liked the article. I absolutely agree with you on your first point. I should perhaps have made it clearer that...

2 days ago by TerryRK on A tale of two distros: Ubuntu and Linux Mint
Dennis Nilsson

If we allow corporate interest to dictate the way our government circumvents due process against foreign entities then we should accept the same...

2 days ago by Dennis Nilsson via Facebook on ACTA stumbles in Germany
GHar123

I totally dislike pirating of works, I fear that artists will be deterred from creating works if they think that they are going to get ripped off....

2 days ago by GHar123 on ACTA stumbles in Germany
JCB33

How dare film makers, artists or anybody that invests in creativity stop us pirating their works for free. I want to be able to walk into my local...

2 days ago by JCB33 on ACTA stumbles in Germany
Moley

@GrueMaster. I prefer horses for courses rather than one size fits all. I, and I suspect most other computer users, do not really wish to have...

2 days ago by Moley on A tale of two distros: Ubuntu and Linux Mint
greycynic

The product that scares me every time I have to use it is the Office 2007 version of Excel. The first bug that I found was applying the median...

2 days ago by greycynic on Ten flawed products that derail productivity
GrueMaster

Nice review and very informative. One thing I'd like to add (in reply to whs001's 1st question), the main reason to have the same interface from...

2 days ago by GrueMaster on A tale of two distros: Ubuntu and Linux Mint
Frederick Wrigley

I'be been using Mint 12 since the RC came out, and I am far more happy with the Cinnamon, the Mate, and, yes (with extensions), theGnome 3...

2 days ago by Frederick Wrigley via Facebook on A tale of two distros: Ubuntu and Linux Mint