SDU spinout aims to make solar cells part of architecture
Research from the University of Southern Denmark is now being transformed into a company developing the technology behind organic solar cells. The goal is to make solar cells more attractive to integrate into buildings while strengthening European production of green energy technologies.
Solar cells do not have to look like solar cells. That is the vision behind the new SDU spinout LayersTech, which originates from research into organic solar cells at the University of Southern Denmark.
The company develops advanced coating and foil technologies that can make solar cells of the future more durable, more flexible, and easier to integrate into buildings, façades, and urban spaces. Together with serial entrepreneur Søren Bødker – former CEO of VisBlue – the research is now being translated into products with the potential to create a new green industry in Europe.
Turning energy production into part of the architecture
The company is based on research led by Professor Morten Madsen and the CAPE research group 麻豆社区. While traditional solar cells are typically mounted on rooftops or installed in large solar parks, organic solar cells open up entirely new possibilities.
They are ultra-thin, flexible and can be either transparent or produced in a variety of colours. This enables energy generation to be integrated directly into building surfaces without compromising architecture or design.
- Many people still associate solar cells with dark rooftop panels or large-scale installations in the landscape. We are developing technologies that make it possible to integrate energy generation directly into buildings, allowing solar cells to become a natural part of architecture, says Søren Bødker.
Delivering the technology behind the solar cells of the future
LayersTech will not manufacture finished solar panels itself. Instead, the company will develop and supply advanced materials and contact layers to manufacturers of organic solar cells.
One of the company's most important breakthroughs is the development of highly transparent layers that enable the creation of coloured solar cells without the significant efficiency losses that typically accompany aesthetic solutions.
- The entire challenge is to create something that the solar cell perceives as transparent while humans perceive it as a colour. That is exactly what we have developed through the EUDP project ColorFoil, explains Morten Madsen.
He points out that the technology could potentially be used in everything from glass façades and greenhouses to buildings where architects want energy generation without changing the visual appearance.
- Imagine an office building where the glass façade generates electricity without looking like a solar installation. Those are the kinds of solutions we want to make possible, he says.
At the same time, the company is working on so-called contact layers that can significantly improve the durability of organic solar cells.
- Our accelerated testing indicates up to a doubling of lifetime. That is one of the things the market is really lacking right now, says Morten Madsen.
From energy infrastructure to energy design
The debate about solar power often centres on land use and landscape impact. Last year, Danish politician Inger Støjberg launched the slogan "Yes to grain fields, no to iron fields", and the term "iron fields" was later named Danish Word of the Year 2025.
For critics, large solar parks have become a symbol of a green transition that risks replacing open landscapes with steel structures, reflections and dark surfaces.
According to LayersTech CEO Søren Bødker, organic solar cells point towards a different approach. Instead of occupying new land, energy generation can increasingly be integrated into buildings, greenhouses, glass structures and existing infrastructure.
- Organic solar cells allow us to incorporate energy generation into surfaces that already exist. In this way, we can potentially generate energy without necessarily taking up additional land, he says.
A large market for energy-generating surfaces
The company sees significant opportunities within building-integrated photovoltaics, energy-generating façades, transparent energy foils, greenhouses and the transport sector.
According to Søren Bødker, the perspectives extend even further.
- In principle, we can develop technologies that give existing materials entirely new functions. That opens up exciting opportunities for the buildings and products of the future, he says.
Europe must not lose another green industry
The project is not only about new technology. It is also about Europe's future competitiveness.
Today, the production of traditional silicon solar cells is largely concentrated in China. Organic solar cells, however, can be manufactured using different production methods that, according to the researchers, offer opportunities for more flexible and localised European production.
- Europe was an early leader in the development of traditional solar cells, but production eventually moved elsewhere. Organic solar cells allow us to build something new around technologies where we still have strong research environments and expertise, says Søren Bødker.
Scaling up and industrial production are therefore key focus areas for the company, which expects to begin its first customer development projects within the coming year.
Research creating solutions beyond the laboratory
The company is the result of close collaboration between academia and industry, supported in part by STEAR, which works to strengthen green innovation and commercialisation.
For Morten Madsen, LayersTech is an example of how university research can be translated into tangible technologies with potential far beyond the laboratory.
- That is exactly what makes this exciting. Research can become technology, companies and ultimately new solutions to some of society's biggest challenges, he says.