• • • NEWS • • •
Power Roll raises £5.8m to scale-up solar film manufacture
One million tests uploaded M
ore than one million tests from 38 countries have now been uploaded to the IDEAL AnyWARE Cloud test management system from the LanTEK IV cable certifier. “Since its launch in July 2019, IDEAL AnyWARE Cloud has proven a big
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ower Rol confirmed that it has raised a further £3m, which takes total investment in the firm to £5.8m over two funding rounds completed in the last six months. Equity investors in the round include Indigo 7 Ventures (i7v), Kero Development Partners and RAB Capital. Power Roll also converted £1,250,000 loans into equity as part of the Government’s Future Fund scheme, which was launched to support UK firms through the Coronavirus pandemic, enabling the company to continue to break new ground in technology and innovation. “The innovative nature of Power
Roll’s technology has the capacity to change the outlook of solar installation the world over, not only by a dramatic reduction in cost, but also because it opens up the use of a huge variety of sites and buildings that would not be suited to traditional solar installations,” said Doug Duguid, Chief Executive of i7v. “Power Roll’s core
microgroove technology has a number of other applications beyond solar, and as a result they have created a platform product with potentially multiple uses, which is very appealing to us as an investor.” Roger Doo, Director, Kero Limited said: “We’re delighted to invest in Power Roll. Their technology is truly ground-breaking. We aim to support technology that addresses the environmental challenges facing the world and Power Roll’s unique thin film solar PV is shaping up to make big strides in this area.”
Philip Richards, founder and president of RAB Capital said: “Power Roll's new technology will make solar power dramatically cheaper and available to all worldwide. Our investment has both a strong financial upside and a strong moral dimension; it fits with our investment strategy to make energy capture and storage affordable and available globally.”
success, evidenced by the sheer global scale of tests uploaded so far,” says Tim Widdershoven, Marketing Director for IDEAL Networks. “With a totally different way to manage test data, it has also helped technicians and installers to work more flexibly and safely despite the challenges of Covid-19.” The secure and dependable cloud-based tool can be accessed, viewed, and updated on all common web browsers, via PC or tablet, an ideal solution with more people working from home due to Covid-19 restrictions. As it is not necessary to log in to a specific PC with test management software installed, users can remotely upload tests from their LanTEK IV cable certifier easily, without the need to travel to an office to upload or to back-up the data where software is locally installed on a PC. Similarly reports can be easily managed, edited, and shared from anywhere via IDEAL AnyWARE Cloud.
“Keeping people safe remains a top priority at the moment,” says Tim. “The AnyWARE Cloud helps businesses provide an extra layer of safety and security for their teams, limiting interpersonal contact and reducing travel, while also getting the job done more easily and efficiently.” Project Managers are also supported for remote working with the IDEAL AnyWARE Cloud platform, as they can login to pre-configure all project information. This helps to eliminate errors on site, reducing call-backs and social contact, while keeping unnecessary costs down. By removing the need for manual data entry on site, jobs can also be completed more quickly, helping to decrease the time spent on site. LanTEK IV also supports this, with the capability for all tests up to Cat6A to be conducted and saved in just 7 seconds, including any optional measurements such as TCL and resistance unbalance. For effective and safe collaboration and troubleshooting, LanTEK IV also
offers the Team Viewer Live Support feature, which allows colleagues and the IDEAL Networks’ Technical Support team to connect to the certifier remotely. “Aside from helping businesses work differently in recent months, our recent
research has shown that the IDEAL AnyWARE Cloud also has a big impact on productivity,” says Tim, explaining that 59% of users said that it had a high or very high impact on their productivity, thanks to its functions which decrease the time needed to create projects and test IDs and enable extensive pre- configuration that saves test time in the field. 55% of those surveyed also said that this helps eliminate mistakes from manual data entry.
NEW BREXIT TRADE RULES WILL DRIVE UK DEMAND FOR BATTERY DEVELOPMENT
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mid rising concerns over the impact of the new Brexit trade deal, HORIBA MIRA has stated that OEMs will need to overhaul their supply chains to meet the new ‘rules of
origin’ clause driving a surge in demand for development and testing of EV battery packs. It comes as last month Aston Martin boss and Nissan planning chief Dr Andy Palmer issued a warning to the UK government that the Brexit trade deal, alongside ambitious plans to ban the sale of new petrol and diesel cars by 2030, presents a risk of “crippling tariffs” for the UK automotive industry unless the sector invests heavily in domestic battery production for electric vehicles.
This is mainly due to the ‘rules of origin’ terms negotiated under the UK-EU deal, which stipulates that, by 2026, at least 55% of the car's value must be derived from either the UK
or the EU, or face substantial tariffs significantly increasing the cost of the finished vehicle when exported. With this in mind, automotive engineering, test and development consultancy HORIBA MIRA, which regularly works with automakers around the world on their EV battery development and testing, is quick to assert that as OEMs work to reinvent their supply chains to meet the new trade rules – testing and validation should be a priority. Greg Harris, Global Strategy Lead for Electrification at HORIBA MIRA: “OEMs looking to meet the new ‘rules of origin’ clause will be looking to source as much as they can from the UK, and to implement these changes into the supply chain will require extensive development and testing, with EV battery packs being a major focus due to the high value of those components. Investment into R&D and the infrastructure for EV battery development and production pioneering initiatives such as the UK Battery Industrialisation Centre in Coventry are going to be key to success. “As are firms such as HORIBA MIRA, which, responding to soaring demand for advanced battery safety testing, recently invested £1.5m in a new Large Climatic Vibration Laboratory – or ‘shaker’– and a Battery Abuse Facility. This investment in the UK’s first battery vibration test facility is just one example of creating much-needed test infrastructure, so that instead of looking to Europe, China and further afield, British automakers can stay in the fast lane for EV production in what promises to be a lucrative market.”
6 ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING • FEBRUARY 2021
electricalengineeringmagazine.co.uk
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