Rhodia investing in rolling solar cells

The Eight19, a semi-conducting organic polymer that looks like a photographic film strip and acts as a solar collector, will benefit from an estimated $7.2 million investment from French international chemical company Rhodia and the United Kingdom’s Carbon Trust. The start-up investment signals enthusiasm about Eight19, developed by Cambridge’s Cavendish Laboratory, and named for the eight minutes and 19 seconds it takes for light to travel from the sun to the earth. The solar cells are flexible, lightweight, easy to install and could be substantially less expensive than current solar technologies. The technology may lead to rapid market development of building-integrated photovoltaics, intelligent fabrics, mobile or self-powered electronic devices or solar power on pure electric aircraft and boats.

Source: University of Cambridge