Solar power film scheme gets £5m boost

An innovative scheme to create solar power film which could cover buildings, roofs and even windows to generate cheap electricity in the UK received a £5m (€7m) boost today.

Within 10 years, the technology aims to provide enough energy at national grid prices to save more than 1 million tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions a year.

The photovoltaic (PV) film, which uses organic compounds to generate electricity, could sit on buildings, roofs and windows and could also be used as chargers for mobile phones or laptop computers, the Carbon Trust said.

The Government-funded trust is providing £5m (€7m) for the first three years of the programme by the University of Cambridge and The Technology Partnership.

The cash will help develop the technology, which uses a very thin layer of organic material on a flexible film, where it absorbs photons of light that are used to generate an electrical current.

Tom Delay, chief executive of the Carbon Trust, said: “We believe this exciting new organic PV technology is our best shot at dramatically reducing the cost of solar PV to the point that, in the next 10 years, it could become as cheap as the power currently delivered to our homes.

“It is because the carbon savings and commercial potential for this technology are so vast that we have acted now to take a good, but expensive idea and turn it into a cost effective, easily available reality.”

Climate Change Minister Joan Ruddock said: “Solar energy has enormous potential, but it’s currently out of the price range of most people.

“Projects like this one have the capacity to make energy from the sun more effective and more affordable, so I’m pleased that the Government is able to support this research through the Carbon Trust.”

The project aims to develop technology with a 5% efficiency and a lifetime of five years which can be manufactured on a film of up to a metre wide.

The Carbon Trust said the scheme had the potential to make the UK a world leader in this type of photovoltaic technology.

Friends of the Earth climate campaigner Nick Rau said: “PV is one of the best ways of integrating renewable energy into the built environment, and turning our homes and offices into power stations.

“There is a lot of enthusiasm to embrace renewable energy but it’s still financially prohibitive for the majority of people. This is especially true of PV.

“Friends of the Earth welcomes any moves that will lower the cost of installation, make it accessible and accelerate its uptake.”

Philip Wolfe, of the Renewable Energy Association, said: “Photovoltaics offers dramatic potential for cost reductions, with organic cells one of several options for delivering power at grid prices.

“It will be truly exciting if the Carbon Trust can help make this a world-competitive technology from a UK base.”