Moser Baer Technologies Inc., a subsidiary of one of India’s leading technology company Moser Baer India Limited (BSE: MOSERBAER), will invest $11.5 million in the world’s first OLED lighting manufacturing to be set up in the New York State.
Moser Baer Tech. will partner with Universal Display Corporation and College of Nanoscale Science and Engineering’s Smart System Technology and Commercialization Center (STC) to established the $20 million manufacturing facility.
Universal Display Corporation (UDC) will receive $4 million through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act from the US Department of Energy for this project. While Moser Baer Tech. would be responsible for acquiring the state-of-the-art manufacturing equipment needed for the production of OLED panels, UDC will have to demonstrate that the production of OLED lighting panels is commercially viable.
The rest of the funding will be provided by the Empire State Development Corporation in the form of low-interest loans and STC will provide grants through the Economic Development Administration for setting up the cleanroom facility required for housing the manufacturing equipment.
The facility is expected to generate 50 high-tech jobs by 2012 and will produce highly energy-efficient and environment-friendly lighting system which could possibly replace all the traditional incandescent and compact fluorescent light bulbs.
Moser Baer Technology’s parent company is already working on several revolutionary energy systems based on solar energy. Moser Baer is one of the market leaders in India’s solar PV sector and has fabrication plants for crystalline silicon cells and thin film solar panels. It has carried out several solar energy projects in various countries and intends to expand its solar PV business. Equity firm Blackstone recently announced its $300 million investment in Moser Baer.
OLED systems work on the principle of electrophosphorescence. It primarily involves the release of electrons from organic molecules under the influence of an electric fields which are then reunited with electron holes emitting energy in the form of photons or light. While this technology is widely used in the manufacturing of television panels, work on lighting systems has no gained any commercial success yet.
Article by Mridul Chadha, appearing courtesy Earth & Industry.
