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The Carbon Trust has launched a company to develop flexible plastic solar panels.
Eight19, the first in a series of spin-out companies that will develop low- carbon renewable technologies, is working on low-cost organic solar photovoltaic (PV) materials using technology developed at Cambridge University’s Cavendish laboratory.
Research at Cavendish has led to the creation of technology companies
including organic LED firm Cambridge Display Technologies and flexible screen developer Plastic Logic.
Organic solar PV materials offer several advantages over conventional, inorganic solar PV. Manufacturers will be able to produce continuous webs of material in the same way as printers at ambient temperatures using non-toxic materials.
Eight19’s technology also enables the production of translucent solar PV materials, which could be coated on to windows, said Dr Robert Trezona, head of R&D at the Carbon Trust.
“There’s the potential to get this into large markets where it can generate a lot of power and save a lot of carbon. It’s cutting-edge, early-stage technology,” he said.
“We don’t know where we will get to and that is what will determine the markets we go into.”
There are limits to the organic solar PV technology, Trezona said. Cells are less durable than conventional solar, normally lasting only a few years, and have yet to achieve the same power outputs and conversion efficiencies.
The Carbon Trust’s £4.5m investment in Eight19 is the first time the organisation has spun out research.
It is maintaining a high level of involvement to ensure value for money from the investment, said Trezona.
Eight19 is also being funded by chemicals company Rhodia.
Carbon Trust’s next spin-outs will be companies that are developing advanced biofuels derived from algae, and a company developing lower-cost plastic fuel cells.