Polymer specialist REHAU and 13 partners are investigating OLED lighting technology enabling lighting to be uniform, bendable, ultra-thin and transparent.
Rehau's involvement is part of the European programme called Lyteus, which is establishing a pilot line enabling companies of any size to develop concepts related to flexible OLED lighting technology quickly and cost-effectively and to bring products to market maturity.
Rehau's role in the consortium is to validate the pilot line as a launching customer, along with AUDI AG, Pilkington and emde design.
Rehau demonstrates the new design freedom, which OLED lighting brings, in its technology carrier Smart Backend.
On the rear of the vehicle, the films have been integrated into the lights in a spiral and thus created a unique optical effect. The integration of OLEDs into Rehau products fits perfectly with the strategic direction of the company.
However, commercialisation obstacles must be overcome before OLED technology is suitable for the mass market. Namely, price and limimted availability.
Lyteus is helping companies such as Rehau to bridge this gap.
Integration into windows would also be conceivable.
"Panes of glass that are transparent in the daytime and light up the room in the evening are visions for the future, though"
The research activities are supported by the European Commission through the Photonics Public-Private Partnership with a total of 14 million Euro.
"In this project, REHAU is venturing into the market of printed electronics. With our know-how in the processing of polymer materials, we are trying to integrate OLED films into edgebands and profiles."
"OLEDs could become the lights of the future. Initially, however, technology scale up and commercial price points must be achieved"
Dr.-Ing. Constanze Ranfeld, *Corporate Research & Development / Advanced Technologies at Rehau