Frontier IP Group Plc (LON:FIPP), a specialist in commercialising university intellectual property, today announces that Robert Bosch Limited has entered into an agreement to work with portfolio company Pulsiv Solar to optimise the design of the Company’s energy-efficient solar micro-inverter prototype. Frontier IP holds an 18.9 per cent stake in Pulsiv.
Frontier IP chief executive officer Neil Crabb said: “We are very pleased with the progress Pulsiv Solar is making. This agreement with Bosch supports validation of the Company’s patented photovoltaic inverter technology and we are looking forward to developments across other applications in the future.”
When the prototype moves into full-scale production University of Plymouth spin-out Pulsiv will be able to market the devices as “Engineered by Bosch.” Bosch UK is a subsidiary of Robert Bosch GmbH (“Bosch”), a leading global supplier of technology and services that employs roughly 410,000 associates worldwide.
Solar micro-inverters are plug-in devices that convert direct current (DC) electricity generated by photovoltaic cells to alternating current (AC) used in electrical grids. In laboratory conditions, Pulsiv has demonstrated its technology is significantly more energy efficient than existing micro-inverters.
For the commercial product, the Company is targeting an improvement on energy delivered to the grid of at least 5 per cent over current market leaders. Its micro-inverters can be used in new installations or retrofitted to existing solar panels.
The work with Bosch UK will be funded by the Company as part of a £288,732 project backed by a £129,929 grant from Innovate UK, the UK’s innovation agency.
Other applications being explored for the technology include improving the energy efficiency of power converters used in a huge range of consumer devices, such as televisions, mobile phones and laptops.
Pulsiv was incorporated to develop and commercialise the work of Dr Zaki Ahmed, Associate Professor in Information Technology at the School of Computing, Electronics and Mathematics at the University.
Mahesh Chikodi, UK country head of Robert Bosch Engineering and Business Solutions, said:
“Bosch is currently engaged with Pulsiv Solar for industrialisation of their solution which increases the power output from solar panels. Pulsiv has technology which increases the output of solar panels by up to 30 per cent and Bosch with its leading engineering expertise on software and sensors will aim to accelerate the product development and testing.”
Pulsiv Solar technical director Dr Zaki Ahmed said: “We are very excited to have Bosch’s collaboration and support on the industrialisation of our micro-inverter, and potentially other products. This collaboration means I expect Pulsiv will be able to deliver an average improvement of more than 5 per cent in the energy exported to the electrical grid. We have been assured by a global leader in the renewables space that this improvement could be disruptive to the industry.”
