On December 10, 2009, Power Paper and General Electric announced today that the companies have signed an agreement to jointly develop self-powered OLED lighting devices.
Self-powered OLEDs will enable thin, flexible strips of light where no power source is available.
Using low-cost, high volume manufacturing processes, these devices could be deployed in a wide variety of environments from military ships to night-time jogging vests. The collaboration is supported by an Israel-U.S. Binational Industrial Research and Development Foundation (BIRD Foundation) program.
GE brings new, innovative lighting technologies to market. Power Paper develops and licenses micro-power clean technology based on an innovative paper-thin, flexible, safe, environment-friendly, printable battery.
Power Paper batteries do not contain caustic chemicals, and cannot overheat, explode, or cause burns or electrical shock. They are non-toxic and non-flammable and can therefore be freely shipped, stored, and disposed of after use. The batteries contain no heavy metals such as mercury, lead or cadmium, commonly found in conventional batteries, making them suitable for disposable applications. Power Paper design and printing processes allows the ability to control shape and size of the battery according to the device needs.
The potential applications for lighting devices that are thin, flexible, lightweight and mobile are virtually unlimited. When the lights go out from a power outage, imagine strips of light that illuminate hallways and emergency pathways and even light a whole room in a house.