Oxford Photovoltaic (OPV), a spin-out from Oxford University, has received an investment of £2 million from MTI Partners as part of its latest round of funding.

As reported by Solar Power Portal’s sister site Design-Build Solar , the investment will be used to help OPV to commercialize its new Solar cell technology which applies a tiny layer of transparent dye sensitized solid-state Solar cells directly onto glass in a range of colours. These cells are manufactured from inexpensive, abundant, non-toxic and non-corrosive materials and can be scaled to any volume.

The technology is particularly suitable for use in glass building facades. The facades will be able to convert sunlight into electricity which can be used to power the building to which the panels are attached or feed it into the national grid.

The £2 million fund will enable OPV to strengthen its technical and commercial teams and construct its own product development and test facilities at the Beg Broke Science Park near Oxford.

The financing was led by MTI through its UMIP Premier Fund (UPF) alongside investment from the University of Oxford and a number of private investors.

Kevin Arthur, CEO of OPV said “Our company is making huge strides in the scale-up and commercialization of this technology, our new product development facility at Beg Broke will incorporate state of the art printing techniques to enable us to manufacture larger modules and begin the technology transfer of our new, high efficiency MSSC technology.

“In addition, our new test and qualification facility will fast track our programme to deliver modules that meet internationally accepted standards and specifications for photovoltaic products.”

David Ward, Managing Partner and Head of Clean tech investing at MTI added: “We are delighted with the technical and commercial progress of the business since MTI supported OPV’s spin out in 2011. The company is addressing a huge potential market opportunity and the building of the product development facility is an important step on the road to full commercialization.”

Courtesy of Design Build Solar