Plastic solar cells mission of new Cambridge spin-out: Eight19 - Photovoltaics World

Plastic solar cells mission of new Cambridge spin-out: Eight19 - Photovoltaics World

Cambridge Enterprise, the University of Cambridge’s commercialization office, and the Carbon Trust launched Eight19 Limited, a new solar energy company which will develop and manufacture high-performance, lower-cost plastic solar cells for high-growth volume markets.

Spun-out from the Carbon Trust’s Cambridge University-TTP Advanced Photovoltaic Research Accelerator, this latest commercial phase will focus efforts on developing product prototypes, backed by a £4.5m investment from the Carbon Trust and leading international specialty chemicals company Rhodia.

Eight19, so called as it takes 8 minutes and 19 seconds for light to travel from the sun to the earth, has been created in partnership with Professor Sir Richard Friend, Professor Henning Sirringhaus and Professor Neil Greenham of Cambridge’s internationally renowned Cavendish Laboratory, and technology development company TTP.

With improvements in efficiency and lifetime, breakthroughs in organic photovoltaic technology could provide solar power at a price substantially lower than that offered by 1st and 2nd generation technologies for certain applications, which could open up new markets for solar.