A decade ago, Perry Carroll was sailing in the Atlantic when he awoke and saw his boat glowing under the moonlight. “It should be solar,” Perry Carroll thought in a moment of brilliance. Since then, he’s been dreaming of creating an elongated solar panel.
Carroll, who has been around for 25 years in the world of technology startups, founded The Solar Cloth Company in 2012. In 2012, the company constructed the first parking area covered in fabric made of photovoltaics with a thickness of just a few microns at the Cambridge Research Park in England. The 1,600 square-foot canopy, above twelve parking spots, produces 15 kilowatts per hour, which is enough to power ten homes daily, as per Carroll. The company is set to make an enormous impact, thanks to the possibility of constructing billions of square feet of roofing and parking spaces, which are ideal for this type of technology across the United Kingdom alone. Carroll discusses his experience with Smithsonian.com.
Let’s look at the issue. What is the problem you are trying to solve?
Renewable energy is becoming a more critical component in the mix of energy as concerns increase about the safety and availability of fossil fuels. Solar energy has an important role to play in addressing the issue. However, traditional solar farms may be a threat to food production or put at risk the precious green belt. The challenge is to create areas for solar energy on commercial properties that are appealing and efficient. This is a considerable advancement made possible with the help of Solar Cloth Company.
What is a solar-colored cloth? What is its construction, and how does it function in the first place?
Our company did not develop solar panels or cloth. Our unique approach is to create products that combine both. Thin-film photovoltaics are tiny microns thick – less than the size of a human hair. We then combine them into light and flexible structures called Building-integrated Photovoltaics. We use the copper-based indium gallium diselenide [CIGS] as our base technology, which is] renowned for its greater conversion rate and light and elastic properties. Our technology is a hundred times thinner than the standard solar panels made of silicon glass that people typically imagine.
What is its efficiency? What power can it produce?
The solar fabric we use produces approximately 100 Watts peak per square meter. In addition, the power output throughout the year is more significant than conventional solar because CIGS performs better in winter months and at low light levels at dusk and dawn. What is the maximum power it can produce? Consider the area covered in meters of solar cloth and increase it by a 100-watt peak. This implies an auto port can provide power to a home, while the roof of a football stadium covered in solar fabric could power small towns.
Which are the most efficient uses to use it?
At present, there is an increasing curiosity about carports and commercial roofing. Most commercial roofing can’t take the weight of massive glass solar panels, so our lightweight solar cloth is the ideal solution. We estimate 9 billion square feet of commercial roofing area and more than 3.5 million square feet of car parking spaces within the UK alone. When covered by solar panels, these could produce enough energy to supply the country’s national grid three times as much.
Every day, we think of innovative applications for our product or have people come to discuss concepts we’d never considered. We’re working on solar-powered wearable solutions and customized projects, but our imagination is our only creativity limitation.
Where have you put up the solar cloth to date?
In the spring of this year, we launched the first solar fabric-tensile parking facility in Cambridge, UK. We are currently closing deals involving 27,000 parking spaces for cars with the top UK retailers and fifteen local governments. We have a steady pipeline of sales worth PS4.2 million [roughly $6.5 million] in 2015, including parks and rides airport parking operators, as well as the owners of retail parks. Additionally, we’re testing the latest, innovative, light, and flexible solar panels integrated into buildings with one of the UK’s largest retailers in January 2015. We’re also incredibly excited to have discussions with two well-known London museums, who have given us the goal of transforming their buildings into solar ways that match their historical style.
What about the impact that HTML0 could have on the method we use to get energy?
Solar power generates electricity at the point of use, above buildings, and over electric automobile carports. It is essential to incorporate solar energy into every structure we construct so that over the lifespan of a system, it will generate more energy than the energy we used to make it. Once we get to the point of solar power built into buildings, we’ll have genuinely green cities.
How will you expand your business? What’s next?
We are currently raising funds. This will allow us to increase the number of employees in the company, both in marketing and sales and administration. This will enable us to fill our ever-growing order pipeline faster and meet the increasing global demand for our products. Crowdfunding can be a fantastic alternative for companies that are growing in cleantech. Crowdfunders do not just want to put money into companies that turn profits. However, they are also looking to be able to contribute money to companies that can perform an act of social good. We believe that crowdfunding is an ideal method for people to help environmental causes in a revolutionary way.