Ilika to create thin-film power source after funding from government

AIM-listed materials company Ilika is to team up with McLaren Applied Technologies and Sharp Laboratories of Europe to create an energy harvesting power source, thanks to funding of over £500,000 from Innovate UK, a public body sponsored by the government.

The companies are aiming to break into the Internet of Things market by developing materials for challenging environments and a manufacturing process to create the world's first fully integrated thin-film power source.

Innovate granted over £320,000 to Ilika, which was spun out of the University of Southampton in 2004, for a two-year project for its Stereax solid-state battery technology integrated with Sharp's photovoltaic technology to provide a power source for McLaren’s wireless sensing platform.

They will focus on an energy harvesting wireless sensing platform, which could be used the motorsport and automotive industries, as well as the healthcare industry, to develop low maintenance sensor nodes for demanding environments that can operate at up to 100°C.

Ilika’s chief executive Graeme Purdy, said: "Ilika's Stereax technology is ideal for combining with energy harvesting technologies. Solid-state batteries are known for their low leakage currents and their ability to retain their performance over thousands of cycles. These properties make Stereax batteries the ideal technology to integrate with Sharp's high efficiency PV panels.”

Dick Glover, chief technology officer at McLaren, added: "Thanks to funding from Innovate UK, we will be developing sensors for the Internet of Things to improve system performance in a wide range of applications across the technology spectrum.

Shares in Ilika were down 1.48% to 43.35p at 0851 GMT.