DUBLIN TECHNOLOGY firm SolarPrint is scaling up its pilot manufacturing line in Ireland, backed by €1.3 million in external investment.
The company has an 743sq m (8,000sq ft) site in Sandyford which includes clean-room facilities and lab space to manufacture photovoltaic energy technologies which convert light from any source into energy.
The cost of expanding the manufacturing line was funded by the wealth management firm Custom House Capital, Enterprise Ireland and several private investors.
SolarPrint’s technology is designed to work indoors in low-light conditions. Its modules are used to power small wireless sensors used in building energy management systems. By converting available light into energy, SolarPrint claims it can increase the battery life of sensors for motion, CO2, temperature, humidity or light. These types of wireless sensors are a rapidly growing segment of the growing building energy management sector.
SolarPrint has already begun shipping prototypes to more than 15 potential customers. This market is dominated by a few large players including Siemens, GE, Honeywell and Schneider Electric.
SolarPrint’s business development director Roy Horgan said the company’s cost of manufacturing is lower than traditional methods because its simplified approach uses screen printing rather than large solar panels. The company develops dye-sensitised solar cells – a form of printable technology – which can be produced using cheap raw materials.
SolarPrint’s pilot manufacturing line was commissioned last year. Mr Horgan said locating the first fab in Ireland was strategically important as the company builds up to producing its technology in high volume.
“This is a process engineering play. We are coming out of core research and development of the technology, and it’s about replicating that in a manufacturable form. That’s a critical element of the business and to outsource that now would be the wrong thing to do. Also, there is a wealth of process engineering skills in Ireland so there was no reason to look abroad,” he said.
