Solar tech firm targets Olympics and World Cup

The world’s two biggest sporting events could be using hi-tech transparent photovoltaic glass developed by a Cambridge CleanTech company.

Polysolar develops advanced solar energy technologies for use by architects and engineers in building projects.

Each pane of the glass, which has already been used in Europe and Asia, can generate around 100W of electricity and can be used everywhere from wall cladding and windows to greenhouses and bus shelters.

Now the ideaSpace-based company’s new product – a transparent photovoltaic glass, which has just received MCS certification for UK Feed-in-Tariffs – could feature at the 2012 London Olympics and the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.

The company was founded in 2007 and is part funded by a £1m research grant from the Technology Strategy Board and is also supported by leading glass company Pilkington and chemical firm Solvay.

“Our product is different from any other solar panel on the market, because it can be used as a building material, making it a highly cost effective integral part of the building,” explains Hamish Watson, company founder.

“Unlike traditional solar cells, which need to be southward facing, the glass can be positioned anywhere, so is more flexible for large scale architectural and engineering projects and hence it generates a higher yield.

“The current solar glass is based on ultra thin film amorphous silicon materials, and we are now working with academics in Sheffield and the Plastic Electronics Technology Centre in the North East to develop low cost next generation organic polymer photovoltaic technologies as a replacement of conventional window glass.”

“Our PV glass has generated a lot of interest and we are in discussions to install it at the 2012 Olympic village, where it could be used to help generate power for information displays across the site.

“We have also had early discussions with the organisers of the 2022 World Cup and the developers of London’s Walkie Talkie building – both projects are obviously quite exciting for our company.”