Eight19 has announced they have received a further £1.3 million of investment. Lucros Investment (Netherlands) joined existing investors IP Group, Clarium and Providence in the round.
The new investment follows two years of continued improvement in OPV (organic photovoltaic) performance, advances in manufacturing readiness and an increased engagement with customers in the retail, FMCG and IoT sectors.
Nick Stokman, Investment Manager at Lucros Investment, will join the Board of the Company
"We are delighted to have secured the additional funding, which will allow Eight19 to accelerate commercial engagement with customers through the delivery of complete energy autonomous solutions utilizing our flexible OPV."
"The funding will also enable the Company to accelerate the commercialization of a recent technology breakthrough at the Cavendish Laboratory, Cambridge University that could enhance the efficiency of conventional silicon solar panels by up to one quarter."
Claudio Marinelli, General Manager and VP Business Development
"Based on our experience in the renewable energy market, we believe that Eight19’s commercialisation expertise in thin film manufacturing, coupled with the ground-breaking photophysics innovation from Sir Richard Friend’s group at the Cavendish Laboratory, can deliver a very exciting and disruptive product in the field of photovoltaics renewable energy."
Nick Stokman, Investment Manager at Lucros Investment
"We are excited by the progress Eight19 is making with commercialisation of their OPV business. Their work with Cambridge University on thin film technology to enhance the performance of conventional silicon solar panels is highly innovative and has huge business potential."
Robert Trezona, Head of Cleantech at IP Group
Energy Autonomous, Bluetooth Low-Energy Module for Sensing and Broadcasting – Sample Demonstrator
Specification Sheet (21112015 - Specifications are subject to change)
| Functionality | Sensing and Broadcasting | Sensing: can be fitted with temperature, light, humidity and other sensors Broadcasting: sending of sensor data or unique identifier |
| Power Consumption, advertising (Wa) | 400 µW | For identity broadcasting only advertising mode operation is required |
| Power Consumption, connected (Wc) | 800 µW | Wp is reduced (can be zeroed) for advertising only operation |
| Transmission Interval (T) | 1 second | Can be varied depending on application requirements |
| Transmission Distance (D) | 3-30 metre | Distance is set by selecting transmission power - programmable from +4 to -40dBm |
| Size (l x w x h) | 66 x 110 x 2.5 mm | Footprint can be modified. It can be reduced for modules operating only in broadcasting mode |
| Operating Temperature | 0 - 65 °C | |
| Bluetooth Low Energy CoC | Nordic nRF51822 (32-bit ARM Cortex) | Alternative BLE chip possible - e.g., Texas instruments, Analog Devices, ST Microelectronics |
| Power Management MCU | ATtiny25 | Can be upgraded to more efficient units |
| Energy Storage | ANVX 60mF supercapacitor | This could be replaced with a rechargeable battery to reduce cost and allow energy autonomous operation over night as well as during daytime |
| Other components | TBD | A small number of external passive components are required to interface with antennas and power source |
Source: Eight19