Ludwigshafen, Germany and Eindhoven, The Netherlands--Engineers at BASF and Philips have created a transparent OLED (organic LED) that can be integrated into a car roof. The OLED is transparent when switched off, and emits light into the car's interior when switched on. The two companies say the transparent OLED sandwich structure can be combined with equally transparent solar cells.
“This combination allows the driver to enjoy a unique open-space feeling while it generates electricity during the day and pleasantly suffuses the interior with the warm light of the transparent, highly efficient OLEDs at night,” says Felix Görth of BASF. BASF develops organo-chemical materials such as dyes that are used in the development and manufacturing of OLEDs by Philips.
The joint “TOPAS 2012” project was launched in January 2010, marking the second phase of Germany's Federal Ministry of Education and Research’s OLED 2015 initiative. (“TOPAS” refers to “thousand lumen organic phosphorescent devices for applications in lighting systems.”) In this project, the consortium partners (which include BASF and Philips) focus on developing innovative materials and component architectures as well as new production machines for lighting solutions with OLEDs.