Feasibility Study for an Off-Grid, Cutting Edge, Low Cost PV Product

Over 1.2 billion people globally are without access to electricity. Whilst the take up of photovoltaic (PV)

modules has expanded dramatically from 6GW in 2009 to 58GW in 2015, the level of adoption in off-grid rural

areas, particularly in India, SE Asia and Africa has been very low, primarily due to prohibitively high cost and

weight limiting take up in remote locations. Big Solar Limited (“BSL”) is developing Power Roll, a ground

breaking flexible, ultra- lightweight and ultra-low cost solar PV product. Power Roll is a unique PV technology

that will allow consumers to generate renewable energy at a cost cheaper than carbon based technologies and

significantly less expensively than other PV technologies. Power Roll will be manufactured at a fraction of the

cost of, and is up to 50 times lighter than current PV products, allowing for mass take up in off grid areas. BSL

has been successful in proving the concept of the Power Roll design and architecture. This project is focussed

on the development of applications that will address the needs of rural off-grid communities in the Indian and

SE Asia markets. BSL is working with The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI) an Indian partner on the project.