News Article
DayStar invests in next generation CIGS technology
The solar firm has approved the acquisition of a 20 percent equity ownership in BC-based Premier Global Holdings Corporation
Premier has demonstrated solar cells that are the first to combine energy generation and power storage in one cell.
DayStar is to issue $12 million in preferred stock in return for the 20 percent equity ownership position in privately held Premier. The preferred can be converted to common stock at $1.60 per share, and will pay an in-kind dividend of 5 percent per annum.
According to its president, John Crawford, "Premier's photosynthesis photovoltaic (PV)
promises significantly lower total solar energy costs, good performance in low lighting conditions, along with a significantly reduced footprint, and a wide range of possible form factors."
"Crawford, who served as Director of Strategic Ventures for the Energiser Holdings (ENR) before resigning to become President of Premier said he "looks forward to a successful partnership with DayStar, and its important network of affiliates and advisors throughout the world."
Lorne Roseborough, DayStar President, says this new technology represents a "fundamental change" in the business model for solar energy, and "will provide Daystar with a significant competitive advantage in its efforts to facilitate utilities and their customers in designing more cost effective and profitable renewable energy projects."
Developed at the University of British Columbia (UBC), the new technology integrates photosynthesis into the photovoltaic (PV) system permitting for the first time, simultaneous generation and storage in a single solar cell.
The system addresses the natural intermittency of Solar (PV) and can make solar power available under low or no direct sun conditions; the result is a built-in solution for reducing total demand on the local electrical grid. Each battery-like cell comes complete with two electrodes and an electrolyte.
Light is absorbed by harvesting light molecules in the electrolyte. Charges are then transferred between the excited light harvesting molecules and mediator molecules that are also in the electrolyte with nearly perfect quantum efficiency. The mediators store the harvested energy, which can then be extracted at the electrodes on demand.
According to Roseborough, "The technology will enable the deployment of units that could be built into apartments, offices, homes, and industrial sites, providing power during utility system outages and natural disasters."
Day Star views this as a long-term strategic investment, he adds, "Having assembled a team of world class engineers and system designers, and developed or co developed projects now or soon to be underway around the world using today's technology, we are very well aware the critical role new technology will play in the expansion of the solar market.
"By investing in Premier we gain access to an important piece of that future," Roseborough says, "Without committing the company to fund and manage its own research and development team."
