Over 1.2 billion people globally are without access to electricity. Whilst the take up of photovoltaic (PV) modules has expanded dramatically from 6GW in 2009 to 58GW in 2015, the level of adoption in off-grid rural areas, particularly in India, SE Asia and Africa has been very low, primarily due to prohibitively high cost and weight limiting take up in remote locations. Big Solar Limited (“BSL”) is developing Power Roll, a ground breaking flexible, ultra- lightweight and ultra-low cost solar PV product. Power Roll is a unique PV technology that will allow consumers to generate renewable energy at a cost cheaper than carbon based technologies and significantly less expensively than other PV technologies. Power Roll will be manufactured at a fraction of the cost of, and is up to 50 times lighter than current PV products, allowing for mass take up in off grid areas. BSL has been successful in proving the concept of the Power Roll design and architecture. This project is focussed on the development of applications that will address the needs of rural off-grid communities in the Indian and SE Asia markets. BSL is working with The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI) an Indian partner on the project.

"Big Solar Ltd is developing a novel photovoltaic architecture that utilises a flexible 3D embossed substrate to create a horizontally integrated thin film solar product called Powerroll. Its unique design allows for low cost roll-to-roll production, and has an added benefit of not requiring a expensive transparent conductive oxide layer. Big Solar would like to access expertise in printable electronics, which will facilitate in the commercialisation of are unique thin film solar design. Colloidal semiconductor inks have the ability to be simply printed onto substrates, enabling fast roll-to-roll production which can lower the cost of conventional PV to the consumer. Having access to expertise within the field of printable electronics allows small SMEs such as BSL to progress through the development stage, and accelerate are route to commercialisation. "

Big Solar is working to develop an ultra-low cost and ultra-lightweight solar pv solution.

Over 1.2 billion people globally are without access to electricity. The adoption of solar panel (photovoltaic, ‘PV’) technology has expanded dramatically from 6GW in 2009 to >70GW in 2016 [Greentech Media], but its use in off-grid rural areas, i.e. India, SE Asia and Africa, has been very low, due to prohibitively high cost and weight. BSL has developed a ground-breaking flexible, ultra-lightweight and ultra-low-cost product called PowerRoll. It is a unique PV technology that provides renewable energy at a cost cheaper than any carbon-based technology, and significantly cheaper than current PV products. PR can be manufactured at a fraction of the cost of conventional panels, and can weigh as little as 2% of current PV products, removing the principal barriers to widespread deployment of solar energy solutions in rural areas. BSL has successfully proven the PR concept. This project is focussed on the development and demonstration of applications to address the needs of rural off-grid communities in the Sub Saharan African, Indian and SE Asia. We are working with expert sub-contractors and three partners to support the demonstrators across several test sites in these markets: The Energy and Resources Institute, India (TERI); Unilever; and Newcastle University (JSCE).

Big Solar Limited (“BSL”) is developing Power Roll, a ground breaking ultra- lightweight, flexible and ultra-low cost solar photovoltaic (“PV”) product. Power Roll is a next generation PV technology, allowing consumers to generate renewable energy at a cost which is lower than carbon based technologies and significantly less expensive that other current PV technologies. Power Roll has a thickness of less than 0.5mm and will be up to 70 times lighter than current PV products allowing for a wide range of applications which are not cost effective with current PV technologies. BSL is delighted to have been successful in achieving Innvoate UK grant funding. The grant funding will support the continued development of Power Roll towards full scale commercialisation including the ability to manufacture Power Roll at larger pilot scale quantities, enabling testing and accreditation processes to be progressed.