Frontier IP's portfolio company wins grant for solar power converter technology

Frontier IP on Wednesday saw its portfolio company Pulsiv Solar win a UK government grant for the development of its patented, energy-efficient solar power technology.

The AIM-traded university intellectual property commercialisation firm said Innovate UK had awarded University of Plymouth spin-out Pulsiv Solar with £0.12m towards a £0.29m solar power project that is being run in collaboration with specialist consultancy Eastmap.

Zaki Ahmed, technical director of Pulsiv Solar, said: "This grant application is a big step forward for Pulsiv Solar in commercialising our patented micro-inverter technology. The energy efficiency improvements it provides are significant, and we're delighted it's generating such strong industry interest."

The project is focused on the development of solar micro-inverters which are plug-in devices that convert direct current electricity generated by solar cells to alternating current used in electrical grids.

Frontier said that Pulsiv’s technology has been significantly more energy efficient than existing micro-inverters in laboratory conditions, with the company targeting a 5% efficiency increase over current market leaders.

Neil Crabb, chief executive of Frontier IP, said: "We're very excited Pulsiv has won this Innovate UK grant to take these potentially ground-breaking micro-inverters to the next stage. We believe efficiency improvements of at least 5% represent a real breakthrough, a view confirmed by the major industry groups we are talking to."

Other potential applications for the technology are being explored and could include power efficiency improvements in consumer devices such as televisions, mobile phones and laptops.

As if 0904 BST, Frontier IP’s shares were down 3.52% at 68.50p.