ELECTRONIQUE ORGANIQUE BRILLIANT MATTERS INC

Their core work

Brilliant Matters is a Quebec-based organic electronics SME specializing in organic photovoltaics (OPV) — solar cells built from carbon-based semiconductors rather than silicon. Their core technical work covers the full OPV value chain: engineering next-generation non-fullerene acceptor materials, and manufacturing thin-film solar cells via roll-to-roll (R-2-R) printing, a continuous web-based process that prints solar cells onto flexible substrates at industrial scale. They also work on transparent photovoltaic glazing — solar cells that can replace conventional window glass while still harvesting light — and their participation in CITYSOLAR places them at the intersection of OPV technology and building-integrated photovoltaic (BIPV) systems for urban energy harvesting. As a rare North American company embedded in EU H2020 consortia, they bring specialized OPV manufacturing know-how that few European partners can replicate.

What they specialise in

How they've shifted over time

Brilliant Matters entered H2020 with a manufacturing and materials emphasis: their BOOSTER participation centred on OPV process engineering — roll-to-roll printing, thin-film deposition, and non-fullerene acceptor chemistry — reflecting upstream, production-oriented expertise. Their second project, CITYSOLAR, shifted the lens toward application and integration: transparent glazing, multi-junction architectures, and BIPV deployment in city buildings, indicating a move from lab-scale materials to market-facing building systems. Both projects started in 2020, so this is less a temporal drift and more a deliberate dual-track strategy: staying anchored in OPV production while simultaneously reaching into the architectural integration market.

Brilliant Matters is positioning at the intersection of organic solar manufacturing and smart building integration — making them an increasingly relevant partner for construction firms, façade engineers, and urban energy planners who want to embed electricity generation directly into building envelopes.

How they like to work

Brilliant Matters participates exclusively as a consortium member — never as coordinator — suggesting they are recruited for specific technical contributions rather than project leadership. Despite only two projects, they have connected with 19 distinct partners across 9 countries, which indicates they integrate readily into large, multinational research consortia and are valued for well-defined specialist input. Their profile is consistent with a focused technology provider that supplies proprietary OPV manufacturing expertise or materials know-how to broader European research teams.

From just two projects Brilliant Matters has built a network of 19 consortium partners spanning 9 countries — an unusually broad footprint for a two-project SME — suggesting both projects involve large, well-connected European consortia. Their network is concentrated in EU photovoltaics and building energy research communities, despite the company itself being based in Canada.

What sets them apart

Brilliant Matters occupies a rare dual niche: a North American OPV specialist with verified EU collaborative credentials, bridging Canadian organic electronics R&D with European photovoltaics consortia. Unlike European university labs that often focus on a single application area, they span both the production side (R-2-R printing, thin-film processing) and the integration side (transparent BIPV windows), making them useful at multiple points along the solar-to-building value chain. For consortia that need transatlantic reach or a partner who can link OPV materials science to architectural deployment, they are a difficult profile to substitute.

Highlights from their portfolio

• BOOSTER
  Running until 2027, this is the longer-term commitment and focuses on scaling organic solar manufacturing toward European commercial viability via R-2-R processes — a direct path to industrial OPV production.
• CITYSOLAR
  Targets one of the most commercially compelling BIPV applications — transparent, window-integrated multi-junction solar cells — putting Brilliant Matters on the front line of urban building energy integration.