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Power Roll
Low-cost, lightweight, flexible perovskite solar film technology
About Power Roll
Power Roll is a UK-based company developing a disruptive, low-cost and lightweight flexible solar film for energy generation. The company was co-founded in 2012 as Big Solar Limited by Saul Joicey and Chief Scientist Dr. John Topping, who invented the core technology. Topping's idea was to adapt the high-speed, low-cost roll-to-roll manufacturing processes used for food packaging to create solar modules.
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The company's patented technology utilizes microgrooves, structures smaller than a human hair, embossed onto a flexible PET substrate. This architecture, combined with perovskite materials, allows for the creation of solar film that is lightweight, flexible, and can be produced without expensive components like Transparent Conductive Oxides (TCO) or scarce earth materials. The manufacturing process is designed for high-speed, roll-to-roll production, which is projected to make the film's manufacturing cost significantly lower than other flexible solar technologies. This approach also results in a carbon footprint up to 20 times lower than conventional silicon PV.
Power Roll's business model is centered on commercially licensing the manufacturing process to partners internationally, rather than solely manufacturing the film itself. The company targets applications where traditional heavy, rigid solar panels are unsuitable, such as non-load-bearing commercial rooftops, building-integrated photovoltaics (BIPV), transport, agricultural technology, and off-grid locations. The firm has established a pilot manufacturing plant in County Durham to demonstrate the technology and plans to build the UK's first gigafactory for solar film. To date, Power Roll has raised $32.8M in funding over 8 rounds from investors including Maven Capital Partners, the Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund, and Greenwood Way Capital.
At a glance
- Status
- Operational
- Founded
- 2012
- Headquarters
- Sunderland, United Kingdom
- Employees
- 37
- Open positions
- None listed
- Dealroom signal
- 64.3/100
- Sub-industry
- Clean Energy
- Sector
- Energy, Intellectual Property, Solar Energy, Sustainable Development Goals, Maritime, Climate Tech, Novel Energy, Renewable Energy, NIF defense security and resilience, NIF energy
- Technology
- Hardware, Deep Tech
- Business model
- Manufacturing
- Client focus
- b2b
Knowledge graph
More headlines
Funding history
Company financing events and reported valuations.
| Deal type | Date | Amount | Valuation | Investors | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GRANT✓Other financing | Jun 2025 | $0 | — | UK Research and Innovation | — |
| LATE VC✓Equity / VC | Oct 2024 | $5.7M | $99M | Maven Capital Partners · Durham County Council · North East Development Capital | ↗ |
Financials
Revenue, earnings and other financial measures where available. Years marked “E” are estimates.
Growth signals
Latest recorded traffic for Power Roll is 710 monthly website visits, up 317.6% over the last three months. Power Roll's team declined 9.8% over the past year.
Similar companies
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Investments and acquisitions
Recent portfolio relationships for companies that also act as investors or acquirers.
Investors
From Dealroom's funding and investor records, grouped by the round each investor first entered.
Seed1 investor entered at this stage
UK Research and Innovation
Series A8 investors entered at this stage
- FDFinance Durham
Maven Capital Partners
Future Fund
Green Angel Ventures
NorthInvest
Acceleris Capital- GCGreenwood Way Capital
- GWGWC
Series B and later5 investors entered at this stage
RAB Capital
I7V
Kero Development Partners- NCNorth East Development Capital
Durham County Council
Other known investors4 additional known investors
Tech Nation
Antoine Pradayrol
Energy Catalyst
Shackleton Ventures
Source: Dealroom Talent Intelligence.
Global footprint
team presence
Market sentiment
An AI-synthesised read of the highest-engagement posts about Power Roll on X, ranked by likes and reposts, corporate channels excluded.
Reading the room on X — pulling top posts and synthesizing themes…
Source: X recent search ranked by engagement (likes + retweets) · Synthesis by Claude · Cached for 1 hour
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