A spinout firm of the University of Warwick, Molecular Solar has planned to raise an additional investment of £5 million to establish its own technology facility.
The tailored facility will help the company to bring its innovative solar technologies to the market.
Gold plated electrodes
Molecular Solar has created a series of technologies to use organic solar cells in a wide range of energy saving applications.
Professor Tim Jones, researcher at Molecular Solar, stated that the company is now studying solar cells made from sustainable materials to produce lightweight and cost-effective flexible cells. These solar cells can be used as flexible sheets for various applications such as a removable sun-shade for automobile windscreens, micro-lights for clothing and solar-powered cell phone chargers.
Molecular Solar is taking part in a £2.1 million project to develop next-generation organic solar cells. The project has been funded by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC), the Technology Strategy Board (TSB) and other participating companies such as New World Solar, Asylum Research and Kurt Lesker.
Researchers at Molecular Solar have created a gold plated electrode for use in organic solar cells. The newly developed electrodes are more economical as the gold thickness is just 8 billionths of a metre. This initiative has attracted Venture capital funding.