A new pliable solar material that can be formed into shapes, curved around corners, and glued vertically or horizontally has been developed in the UK. The Solivus Company will offer a new low-cost energy solution with clean, sustainable products, with no upfront costs and lower repayments than current energy bills.
Solivus founder and CEO, Jo Parker-Swift explains why she started her company:
This fantastic journey started by wanting to create a new clean energy product that I’d be happy to use at home to power my house and my car. Little did I know that it would result in a number of hugely exciting sustainable products that can help not only homeowners but the commercial sector as well. I’m delighted to be leading such a passionate, highly motivated team, working with world-class engineers and project managers, all pulling in the right direction to create an environmentally-friendly, sustainable future.
The carbon-based material will be produced and manufactured by German company Heliatek, an award-winning company that came up with the idea for the “organic photovoltaic” (OPV) solar fabric.
The new organic material works like standard solar; by absorbing sunlight to produce energy. Where Solivus separates from the rest is, their material can be rolled out onto any surface and requires no heavy mounting brackets.
The OPV fabric weighs 1.8kg per m2 section and the film is one-tenth of the weight of traditional solar panels with frames. It’s designed to last and comes with a guarantee for 20 years, containing no toxic or rare earth materials.
The current lab test results put the OPV fabric efficiency at around 13%. Heliatek said the fabric can collect a wider spectrum of light that allows the panels to continue producing energy even on grey days without as much sunlight.
They expect that a 10,000m2 roof will be able to provide around 1MW of energy, which would be enough to power an entire block of homes.
Solivus also has plans for changing the way energy is stored by using chemical-free kinetic batteries known as flywheels. The plan is for flywheel batteries to be used in electric vehicles, offering a cleaner solution to chemical-based batteries at a lower cost.
We decided to be part of the solution. All of our core products are cleaner and more sustainable in their manufacture, in use, and at the end of their economic lives than more conventional alternatives.
The material is set to be available on a large scale in 2021/2022 and the installation will be handled by a partner company Trivandi. The plan is to start with large commercial properties and stadiums.
This new technology is very exciting, but Solivus is not stopping there. It is currently working with the University of Manchester and the Graphene Engineering Innovation Centre. Graphene is known to be one of the strongest materials. It’s thin, lightweight, and efficiently conducts electricity and heat.
For more information, you can visit the Solivus website, and learn more about how you can make a difference by cutting your business or your home’s carbon footprint.
