CAMBRIDGE, UK - Eight19 (www.eight19.com) the developer of Printed Plastic Solar Cells based on Organic Photovoltaic (OPV) technology, today announces the appointment of Dr Simon Bransfield-Garth as Chief Executive.
Dr Bransfield-Garth’s appointment follows the investment of £4.5M ($7.4M) by the Carbon Trust and French chemical company Rhodia SA in September 2010 to commercialise Organic Photovoltaic technology originally developed at Cambridge University’s Cavendish Laboratory, a world leader in plastic electronics technology.
Eight19 is developing a new generation of low-cost, flexible plastic solar cells that have the potential to dramatically reduce the manufacturing cost, increase the throughput of solar technology and help address the growing need for renewable power. Using room temperature printing processes instead of traditional high temperature manufacturing, the cells, which are considerably cheaper and faster to manufacture than 1st and 2nd generation, are predicted to open up new high-growth volume markets. The market for organic solar cells has the potential to reach $500 million by 2015 and to grow four fold to $2 billion by 2020 (Nanomarkets, 2009) and could save up to 900 million tonnes of CO2 by 2050 – some 1.5 times the UK’s current annual emissions.
Plastic solar cells benefit from being based on abundant materials and can be readily crafted into different shapes and colours to meet market requirements, for example for off-grid applications in emerging economies, such as solar powered lighting, or high volume industrial products.
Commenting on the appointment, Tom Brown, Chairman of Eight19 said: “We are delighted that Simon is joining the company as CEO. He brings with him to Eight19 over 25 years global experience in building rapid growth, technology based businesses, so he is well placed to drive us forward towards mass production”.
Simon Bransfield-Garth commented: “I am tremendously excited and privileged to have taken the helm at Eight19. The solar power market is in a period of explosive growth and Eight19, with technology backing from Cambridge University and exceptional team of engineers and scientists is poised to play a significant role”.
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Notes to Editors
Simon Bransfield-Garth
Simon’s career spans twenty five years in high growth, early stage technology sectors, including semiconductor, automotive electronics and mobile phones business. He founded Myriad Solutions Ltd which was sold in 1996 and spent 7 years at Symbian, the phone OS maker, where he was a member of the Leadership Team and VP Global Marketing.
Simon was previously a Fellow at Cambridge University where he also gained his BA and Ph.D in Engineering.
Eight19 Ltd.
Eight19 is located in Cambridge, England and retains close links with the Cavendish Laboratory of Cambridge University.
Based on work pioneered by the internationally renowned team at Cambridge University, the company focuses on high speed, room temperature manufacturing techniques to create lightweight, non-toxic, flexible solar films. The resulting modules are aimed at new mass markets for solar power generation, from off-grid applications in emerging economies to high volume industrial products.
Eight19 is headquartered in Cambridge, England and investors include the Carbon Trust, Rhodia SA, TTP Ltd and the University of Cambridge.
