UK designers introduce freestanding curved panel

• Item advancement company the Cambridge Style Collaboration, dealing with compatriot solar service Solivus, has developed a curved solar module featuring an organic thin movie. The design is based on Solivus' desire to "produce an item so attractive that individuals would be pleased to have one in their garden".

As solar relocations increasingly into the developed environment to satisfy guidelines needing on-site generation, resolving the visual issues of architects and property owners is becoming a crucial obstacle.

A product under development in the U.K. is taking a novel technique as a freestanding PV setup designed for gardens and driveways. Currently at the prototype stage, the module has been developed by the Cambridge Design Collaboration for U.K. solar company Solivus and integrates organic PV technology from German maker Heliatek.

“& ldquo; Solivus had the concept for a freestanding solar panel with high architectural values,” & rdquo; stated James Baker, partner at Cambridge Design. “& ldquo; Its CEO, Jo Parker-Swift, wanted to develop a product so attractive that people would more than happy to have one in their garden.”

& rdquo; An artistic rendering of Solivus’ & rsquo; freestanding PV service at a domestic home. Image: Solivus

Cambridge Style established the prototype for Solivus and said the plan now is to approach production. “& ldquo; Ultimately, the brand-new style will assist power houses and electrical cars and trucks and is set to be given the market,” & rdquo; said Ben Crundwell, senior electronic devices engineer at Cambridge Design. “& ldquo; The next step will be to fine-tune it for cost-efficient, volume manufacture. We have significant experience in this procedure and can provide all the advancement abilities required to move smoothly to production.”

& rdquo; Info about the most likely cost of the item or its power output has not been launched. Current innovations in building-integrated PV solutions have generally focused on facades and solar glass as well as varying the colors of modules to provide designers more option.

Austrian company Energetica took a similar approach to Solivus with its freestanding Smartflower solution and has had some success with it.

Heliatek has already incorporated its thin-film PV services into presentation jobs in Germany and France, and stated in May it was enhancing its natural PV movie before moving to large scale production.