Dyesol and Corus Power Through Third Milestone

The third milestone meeting of the collaborative project between Corus Colors and Dyesol supported by the Welsh Assembly Government (WAG) was held at the PV Accelerator on the Corus Shotton site on Feb. 11, 2009.  The project is developing products, processes and facilities to produce Dye Solar Cells integrated onto strip steel in a coil coating line.

WAG enthusiastically accepted the report and presentations and noted that the project has once again exceeded its performance schedule as well as being on budget.  Dyesol and Corus presented jointly the achievements of the past quarter followed by a facility tour which demonstrated the new continuous process pilot plant installed by Corus in January and the Dyesol titania paste preparation plant. Ahead of the milestone requirements, the team were able to demonstrate advanced substrates designed to achieve the 25 year corrosion resistance specification for the product.

The project team at Shotton now houses over 20 engineers and scientists in an integrated team to accelerate bringing the product to market well in advance of original project schedules.  An aggressive accelerated test and approval program is being implemented this quarter in advance of real-life testing starting in the northern summer.

The dye solar cell integrated into steel roofing promises to be the first solar cell technology that can be grid competitive in the normal light conditions experienced in most cities around the world as compared to full sun conditions needed for other solar technologies.  The advantages of dye solar cells derive from the similarity with photosynthesis. Consequently, dye solar cells exhibit operating voltage stability across the normal daily solar conditions, including cloudy and hazy conditions. DSC is also less susceptible to hot conditions than other solar technologies – and it comes in a variety of natural colors that can be pigment modified to achieve a wide range of optical effects.

The technology has been demonstrated by Dyesol through accelerated testing to have an operating lifetime well in excess of the 25 years needed for BIPV applications. Combined with the low energy required for manufacture and relatively cheap materials of construction, DSC has tremendous potential for application wherever steel roofing is used.