Flexible solar PV manufacturer Power Roll has partnered with sustainable packaging company Amcor to accelerate the development of lightweight solar PV film.
The two companies have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) stating that the partnership will focus on developing a new, lightweight photovoltaic solar film that could serve as a cheaper alternative to conventional silicon-based solar panels.
Since its founding in 2012, Power Roll has been working to commercialize microgroove technology for solar PV. The company’s proprietary solar film combines microgrooves with a vacuum coating process, similar to processes used to make food packaging.
To limit the need for rare earth metals in the final product, Power Roll uses perovskites – a highly efficient material that is currently making a big impression in the solar energy sector, because Solar Power Portal reported this earlier.
The result is a lightweight film that can be used in applications where the weight or cost of traditional silicon solar panels make their installation impossible. The technology places a large number of solar cells in a very small space; as Neil Spann, CEO of Power Roll, explained Solar energy portal in 2021: “Unlike other solar technologies, we can fully demonstrate our solar technology on a relatively small surface. In a 20 cm2 sample we connected 8,000 individual solar cells to 500 individual modules, which is completely unique.”
Last month the County Durham-based company received a £4.3 million funding injection from the Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund II (NPIF II). Through the NPIFII, Maven Equity Finance invested £1.5 million, with a further £750,000 coming from the Finance Durham Fund established by Durham County Council, and a further £750,000 invested by the North East Development Capital Fund. A further £1.3 million was secured from multiple private investors.
Amcor also has a presence in the solar PV sector, and the two companies hope that leveraging Amcor’s expertise in roll-to-roll manufacturing processes will enable Power Roll to expand in the UK and beyond . Power Roll has previously stated that it plans to commercially license the manufacturing process for the solar film technology internationally to enable global expansion.
Commenting on the partnership, Spann said: “With one in three commercial roofs unable to support the weight of traditional solar panels, equivalent to 12 billion square meters worldwide, our mission is to spark a global solar revolution. to lead roofs. The need for cheap clean energy has never been greater.”
