Imperial Innovations has announced the launch of Solar Flow, a company founded by Professor Christos Markides of Chemical Engineering.

The company will commercialise the solar panel design created in the Clean Energy Processes (CEP) lab by Professor Markides and his team, which integrates two existing solar energy technologies into a single panel.

The technology itself is affordable to create and is expected to reduce energy costs and carbon footprint.

Professor Markides said: “By far the highest global growth and investment in renewables is being experienced by the solar sector. Solar Flow is proposing a disruptive technology in this exciting sector and I look forward to our next steps in proving the benefits to investors, users, and society. I am confident that this technology will lead to a great solution for all, at a significantly lower cost than competing solutions.”

Solar Flow has been awarded an Energy Entrepreneurs Fund grant from the Department of Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy (BEIS) to develop a prototype. Professor Markides’ research, which has resulted in the technology, was recently awarded an IChemE Global Award for Best Research Project and was a Highly Commended entry in the “Energy” category.

If you’d like to find out more about the details of this research read the article by Professor Markides on the Department of Chemical Engineering blog.