Plextronics, Inc. has announced that it has signed a non-binding memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Korea Parts & Fasteners (KPF) to create a research and development center for organic photovoltaic process development in Korea. The agreement specifies that Plextronics will focus on advancements in its active layer inks for solar cells and to provide certain baseline device and process technology to the new R&D facility, which will be built outside of Seoul.
Upon reaching a definitive agreement with Plextronics, KPF's role would be to develop advanced process technology using Plextronics' inks and device and process technology.
"Our strategy is to participate in R&D centers with manufacturing customers all over the world who we believe could be major manufacturers of OPV products," said Andy Hannah, CEO of Plextronics. "This venture with KPF is our first step in this strategy."
Jim Dietz, Vice President of Business Development at Plextronics, said, "We fully expect that the advancement of Plextronics' ink performance and design will help accelerate world-wide commercialization of OPV systems. That's very exciting for us and for our industry."
About Plextronics, Inc
Plextronics, Inc. is a leading innovator of technology for printed electronics. The printed electronics market comprises next-generation light, power and circuitry products, including flexible displays, plastic solar cells and organic RFID tags. The market for printed electronics was approximately $1 billion in 2006 and is expected to exceed $300 billion within 20 years.
With a company vision of enabling 15 billion printed electronic devices by 2015, Plextronics is creating technology capable of commercial-scale performance and manufacturability. The company's device design, process technology and Plexcore® branded inks enable the formation of active electrical layers - the key drivers of printed electronics.
Plextronics was founded in 2002 as a spinout from Carnegie Mellon University, based upon conductive polymer technology developed by Dr. Richard McCullough. Over the past five years, Plextronics' team of scientists has refined and further developed this technology to deliver exceptional performance for printed electronics.
Some of the company's recent honors include: 2007 Red Herring Top 100 Company, 2006 Wall Street Journal Technology Innovation Awards Runner-Up, 2006 NREL Clean Energy Entrepreneur of the Year, the 2006 Organic Semiconductor Industry Awards Start-Up of the year, and Top 50 Nanotechnology Start-Up by Lux Research.
For more information about Plextronics, visit www.plextronics.com 
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