September 2015 Quarterly Report and Appendix 4C
Canberra, Oct 29, 2015 AEST (ABN Newswire) - Dyesol Ltd (
ASX:DYE) (DYSOY:OTCMKTS) (D5I:FRA) announce the September 2015 Quarterly Report with significant highlights.
- Quarterly Milestone of 1,000 Hours Light Soaking Stability for PSC Achieved
- EUR650,000 Horizon 2020 Grant Awarded
- $449,000 ARENA Measure Awarded
- $3.3 Million R&D Tax Rebate Received
Corporate and Operational
The optimism that has returned to the renewable energy sector with the change in Government leadership is noticeable across the entire market place. Most notably, this is being reflected in higher share market capitalisation and investment enquiry in Dyesol. In a short period of time, the number of shareholders is once again growing strongly.
Performance reviews for staff and the implementation of the FY2016 Performance Rights Plan have now been completed. Staff retention and performance based remuneration is considered critical in achieving world's best practice in all areas of our business. We want the financial outcomes of staff and shareholders to be closely aligned.
Business planning and technology development are also very important. Clear pathways for development activity for glass and steel substrates are being strictly implemented in Australia and Europe, respectively.
Nowadays, we lead with the technology, with commercialisation relationships to follow. We believe this strategy preserves a stronger position in partnership negotiations, provides tactical flexibility and avoids being dragged down by poorly managed and directed "white elephants", not uncommon in this rapidly changing and disruptive business environment. With the accomplishment of our 7th straight technology milestone this quarter we are, of course, very confident of attracting the best potential partners to the negotiation table.
Dyesol remains very respectful of established routes to market as a means of market entry and values relationships such as that established with Tata Steel UK. Leading glass and steel companies around the world need higher value products and solar enablement of commoditised substrates is a very good starting point.
Research and Development
The relevant gold standard for solar accreditation is IEC 61646. This international standard for thin film solar PV technologies has two key aspects relating to: (1) 1,000 hours of continual light soaking @ 1 Sun and (2) 1,000 hours of thermal exposure @ 85 °C. Efficiency loss or performance degradation in both tests must be less than 10% of overall conversion efficiency. Satisfying these two independent tests and having the results confirmed by a recognised accreditation authority such as NREL are critical in Dyesol's milestone based Technology Development Plan. During the quarter, Dyesol reported the successful accomplishment of the light soaking test and has now moved onto development and testing work aimed at meeting thermal degradation standards. These tests are performed on increasingly larger devices as part of disciplined scale-up activity.
The Company is very pleased with its achievements in relation to stability and durability, setting it apart from the mostly single focus of efficiency improvement in the academic world. Dyesol has more than a decade of experience in encapsulation and sealing, fundamental to the achievement of stability and durability goals. This approach is consistent with the de-risking of technology scale-up in order to establish viability criteria for substantial investment in mass manufacture.
Manufacturing and Technical Collaborations
The clarity and quality of the Turkish project continues to improve with additional industrial partners seeking entry under the stewardship of the Turkish Development Bank. We hope to make a detailed announcement in relation to the progress of the prototype project and the possible formation of a joint venture in the near future. Dyesol attended meetings in Ankara in October and a further meeting is scheduled for early November. The formation of a domestic solar industry remains strategically very important to the Turkish Government and the Elections in early November should provide a strong foundation for confidence in all aspects of our joint venture plans.
Scoping and costing is occurring of multiple, potential Major Area Demonstration prototype partners. A further round of discussions in Europe will occur in November in an attempt finalise this important scale-up phase for 2016. The Solliance consortium has helped introduce a number of potential high quality engineering groups capable of meeting our needs. Contracting will be complex and detailed as it will address IP protection and the various risk managed stage gates to mass manufacture.
For the first time, we are now looking at the potential for manufacture in Australia. Collaboration partners are emerging and the ARENA Measure is considered an initial step in the development and industrialisation of the PSC in Australia. Those discussions between government, industry and academia remain the subject of confidentiality, but economic and market conditions are increasingly attractive for both domestic and export focused production. The initial award of $449,000 by ARENA was accompanied by a letter of support from Australian industry. A key outcome of this initial grant will be a Levelised Cost of Electricity (LCOE) study for Perovskite Solar Cell technology. This study will include using the ARENA LCOE model developed for large scale solar applications for verification.
The Horizon 2020 grant of EUR650,000 or approximately $1,000,000 is also invaluable to our development activity. That will allow us to extend applications of our novel, laser-assisted, glass frit sealing technology from glass to steel substrates and has attracted high quality collaboration partners.
Financials
The net operating monthly cash burn (Sec 1.8) for the first quarter averaged $925k. At the end of the quarter cash balances totalled $2.2m. Subsequent to quarter end, the Company received $3.3m for the FY2015 R&D Tax Incentive rebate, providing an effective end of quarter cash position of $5.5 million.
To view the report, please visit:
http://media.abnnewswire.net/media/en/docs/ASX-DYE-739740.pdf
About Greatcell Solar Limited
Greatcell Solar Limited (ASX:GSL) (OTCMKTS:DYSOY) is a global leader in the development and commercialisation of Perovskite Solar Cell (PSC) technology – 3rd Generation photovoltaic technology that can be applied to glass, metal, polymers or cement. Greatcell Solar Limited manufactures and supplies high performance materials and is focussed on the successful commercialisation of PSC photovoltaics. It is a publicly listed company: Australian Securities Exchange ASX (GSL) and German Open Market (D5I). Learn more at our website and subscribe to our mailing list in English and German.
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