The kickstarter campaign for the compact solar charger HeLi-on by infinityPV aimed at collecting 500.000 DKK in 60 days. The start-up from DTU Energy has reached its pledge-goal in only ten days.
infinityPV HeLi-on is the world's most compact solar charger. At first glance, the HeLi-on charger looks like any portable battery bank that fits into your pocket. Nevertheless, inside the small plastic tube hides a flexible solar panel ready to roll out and charge any device and a battery, so it can both generate and store energy. The solar panel is less than one millimeter thick and can charge a smartphone in a few hours of direct sunlight. The HeLi-on charger also contains a lithium-ion battery that can be charged from the solar panel or any USB charger, making HeLi-on a perfect product to extend the life of any smartphone battery.
“Smartphones have become an integrated and unavoidable part of everyday life, and everybody have experienced batteries running out of power at places where you are unable to find a place to charge it, says researcher at DTU Energy, Morten V. Madsen, one of inventors behind HeLi-on from infinityPV.
“Using our newly developed solar technology we have made HeLi-on, a charger you can carry around in your pocket that enables you to transform the power of the sun into power on your smartphone”.
"Our polymer solar cells represent a groundbreaking new approach, and the materials and manufacturing methods provide a very low environmental impact compared to other types of solar cells"
Professor Frederik C. Krebs, head of research in plastic solar cells at DTU Energy and founder and director of infinityPV
You can charge an external device in two ways with HeLi-on: Either unroll the solar panel and charge directly from sunlight or use the internal battery when the sun is down.
The HeLi-on charger was developed by infinityPV, a start-up company founded in 2014 by researchers from DTU Energy under the Technical University of Denmark (DTU), and infinityPV holds several DTU-patents in the field of polymer solar cells and sells solar foils and solar panels as well as materials and characterization hardware. Polymer solar cells are a third generation photovoltaic technology using carbon-based materials to absorb light and fabricated in large scale and high speed using printing machines akin to newspaper printing machines and do not need multi-million dollar facilities as used in traditional silicon PV technology. The compact design of HeLi-on was achieved using a flexible polymer solar cell foil.
“Our polymer solar cells represent a groundbreaking new approach, and the materials and manufacturing methods provide a very low environmental impact compared to other types of solar cells, "explains Professor Frederik C. Krebs, head of research in plastic solar cells at DTU Energy and founder and director of infinityPV, the company behind HeLi-on. The HeLi-on is produced in Denmark by infinityPV itself
Solar chargers for mobile phones have been attempted before, but HeLi-on seems to have found the right product and the right market-platform. HeLi-on was launched on Kickstarter November 9 with a pledge-goal of 500.000 DKK in 60 days, and it has reached its goal after only ten days.