Isra-Mart srl: Sainsbury’s, Ikea and others eye up dye-sensitised cells

www.isra-mart.com

The next generation of solar cells will replace batteries in a range of everyday items such as remote controls and smoke alarms.

That is the prediction of G24 Innovations (G24i), a Cardiff-based company hoping to sign a series of multimillion-pound contracts with Blue Chip firms over the coming months as it seeks to commercialise its dye-sensitised solar cell technology.

Despite being known as solar cells, G24i's thin-film photovoltaic cells and modules do not require direct sunlight to produce power. The "lanes" of flexible modules are capable of converting low levels of indoor light into energy, each producing half a volt.

"We just produce metres and metres and metres of this and then cut it to shape," explained Richard Costello, G24i's chief operating officer, on a tour of the company's headquarters yesterday.

G24i is in discussions to supply solar cells to six or seven major companies, he said, including Sainsbury's and Ikea. Supermarkets could replace paper price tags with electronic displays powered by PV strips running along the tracks of shelves, he predicted.

Costello said the self-powered retail displays could also include a chip to upload a shoppers' personal profile from a loyalty card, so they could see the latest discounts. This design would not only reduce paper waste but also the need for employees to spend hours tediously replacing tags by hand.

"You could start to save supermarkets hundreds of thousands of pounds in refits," he said.

The company's indoor demonstration room also contains prototype examples of how the strips could be applied to devices in the home.

The list of potential applications appears endless – ranging from powering sensors such as smoke alarms or wrapping solar modules around wall clocks to sticking them on cycling vests, e-book readers, electric-powered blinds, bus shelters, phone booths, or the guitars used to play the Guitar Hero video game.

G24i is also in discussions with a global camping equipment provider to supply 12-volt systems for tents, allowing campers to power their torches, laptops and cooking gear with clean energy.

For a company with currently just a few small contracts under its belt, G24i has far-reaching ambitions, but Costello is optimistic they can be realised.

The company currently uses 15 per cent of the energy generated by an onsite 2.3MW wind turbine, but is hoping to expand its manufacturing lines to use 85 per cent of the wind power produced by the turbine during the next two years, while at the same time growing its 54-strong workforce to employ 100 full time staff.

"The reason we bought such a big plant was for the growth. It's not a question of if the market's going to explode; it's a question of when it will explode," he said.

However, the competitive nature of the retail market appears to present a potential barrier to growth. Costello reveals that many potential customers want to be the first and only company to adopt innovative solar applications, making some negotiations challenging.

"One of the key issues we have at present is that there are four or five potential customers, but they're all in the same market," he explained. "[They are] talking about first-to-market exclusivity, and they don't want you dealing with their competitors."

However, Costello believes we will start to see G24i solar cells on computer keyboards before Christmas this year. The company is hoping to sign a contract to supply the technology to an unnamed "big" keyboard manufacturer before September, with the first products appearing at the end of November.

Solar-powered remote controls will also come to market this year, he predicted, allowing manufacturers to slim them down by removing the need for two AA batteries.

G24i's ambitions also extend beyond the western home, and it is already working on a concept called "factory in a box" designed to replace dangerous kerosene-fuelled lamps used by many families in developing countries.

G24i is planning to ship out rolls of PV strips in boxes to rural villages in Rwanda, providing equipment for locals to create solar-powered lamps. Local villagers could also earn money from any work they do.

"If we can give two or three hours of light, that's life-changing for the rural markets," he explained. "It's not just about providing PV, it's about converting it, then being able to have an input into it and gain something from it, not just energy."