A project funded by the EU, known as IMOLA (Intelligent light Management for OLED on foil Applications), will put a focus on the development of large-area OLED-based lighting modules with built-in intelligent light management.
These OLED-based lighting modules will be used in future energy-efficient wall, ceiling and car dome lighting, where the light intensity can be adjusted intelligently, e.g. according to the time of the day or weather conditions.
OLEDs are paper-thin, flexible and lightweight electronic devices that consist of organic materials which emit light in response to an electric current. They consume up to 70% less energy compared to conventional light sources, making a prime candidate for the next generation of energy-saving lighting.
Despite of the advantage, some outstanding challenges including the driving electronics, power distribution, integration and miniaturization, as well as sensors and application intelligence,need to be settled by IMOLA R&D before flexible large-area OLED lighting can be commercialized.
With IMOLA's application demonstrators in the areas of car and wall lighting, public will raise the awareness and acceptance for environmental-friendly OLED lighting. In addition, IMOLA will help create a common OLED infrastructure on a European scale. IMOLA's R&D results will help to give Europe a leading edge in OLED fabrication, especially in the field of high value-added applications, such as automotive lighting.
The IMOLA consortium includes industrial and academic partners that are leaders in their field of expertise, including Holst Centre (Netherlands), Philips Technologie (Germany), NXP Semiconductors (Netherlands, Belgium), Hanita Coatings RCA (Israel), Henkel Electronic Materials (Belgium), Centro Ricerche Plast-optica (Italy), and the FER department of the University of Zagreb (Croatia).