Dyesol Ltd

Dyesol Ltd (ASX:DYE)

Solar energy, is the ultimate clean renewable energy source.

Effective use of solar energy, along with other renewable energy sources, holds much promise for a brighter future. While solar cells, also known as photovoltaic cells have  been around for decades, their expense and rigid glass-based construction has limited their application mostly to rooftops of buildings. However, in recent years new solar cells have been made with polymers (plastic) instead of glass. This  plastic material can be sprayed onto surfaces, just like paint, which opens many promising possibilities.

Dye Solar Cell technology can best be described as ‘artificial photosynthesis’ using an electrolyte, a layer of titania (a pigment used in white paints and tooth paste) and ruthenium dye sandwiched between glass.  Light striking the dye excites electrons which are absorbed by the titania to become an electric current many times stronger than that found in natural photosynthesis in plants.

Dyesol is located in Queanbeyan NSW Australia and in August 2005 was listed on the Australian Stock market. We have been tracking this company's progress since then. We believe that this company is only just starting to crank up its major commercialisation phase.

Dyesol offers a holistic DSC solution comprising a wide range of Products and Services including Materials, Consulting,Research & Development, Contracting, Licensing, Training, Laboratory Facilities, Prototyping and Pilot Equipment, and Turnkey Manufacturing Facilities.

The Company is playing a key role in taking this third generation solar technology out of the laboratory and into the community. Universities in Japan, Korea, USA, Thailand, Taiwan, as well as EPFL in Switzerland have all purchased DSC materials from the  Dyesol range, (e.g. dye, titania paste) for DSC projects.  Dyesol now supplies materials to more than 25 countries throughout the world via its on line purchasing web-site.

The advantage of Dyesol’s DSC technology over conventional photovoltaic technology is its lower facility cost, lower energy for manufacture, proportionally higher output of electricity in ambient light conditions, and the ability to directly incorporate it into buildings as passive electricity generators – multifunctional building panels. This is known as BIPV or building integrated photovoltaics.

Globally, there are over a billion square meters of coated steel roofs erected each year providing an amazing opportunity for expanding the market for solar electricity generation. Currently, no other solar technology can be integrated into the coil coating process used to produce colour coated steelsheets. The nano-paint, overlayed with the sensitizing dye and then the electrolyte, will form a multilayered DSC structure, applied at high speeds as the steel passes along the coil line.

Through the last quarter of 2008 and for first quarter of 2009 nearly all industrial companies have suffered a drastic drop in revenue and substantial reduction of cash, Dyesol continues to achieve revenue growth, with income at the end of the 3rd Quarter of 2008 being 70% greater than that achieved for the whole FY2008. Meanwhile the company has substantially reduced cash burn rates while maintaining excellent progress on all projects.  During the quarter, the company met another key milestone in its partnership project with Corus in the UK and announced the first stage commitments from projects in Korea and Turkey – moving the company closer to full commercialisation. This is the time to get into small cap companies.

In April, Dyesol sponsored a conference in Nara, Japan. This was attended by a record number of delegates. Leading experts from around the world spearheading the commercialisation of DSC technology, including Professor Michael Graetzel, Professor Anders Hagfeldt, Professor Laurence Peter, Professor Hironori Arakawa and Dyesol’s Dr Gavin Tulloch and Dr Hans Desilvestro, were just a few of a long list of impressive speakers attending. During the conference, Dyesol announced the achievement of over 12% efficiency for an industrial size tandem cell – demonstrating that the company is also
expanding and strengthening its IP portfolio.

Currently, Dyesol has $6.137M at the bank and continues to have no debt.  Dyesol holds all its cash as
current deposits in top trading banks in Australia (CBA and Westpac/St George), UK (HSBC), Switzerland (Raiffeisen), Singapore (HSBC) and Italy (BPM). The company has maintained its strong cash inflows and has a solid order book for the rest of 2009. This year should see further operating cash inflows from sales of services and equipment in Asia and Europe, growing materials sales and substantial grant payments in the UK.  Operational and investment cash flows are forecast to remain steady.

Dyesol looks like one company that will continue to grow through the current financial crisis and will be well placed to serve what the IEA and World Bank refer to as the Energy Revolution that could dominate industrial growth for the coming decades.  With high energy prices and a renewed global focus on climate change, the demand is expanding for buildings with lower imported energy use and a considerably reduced overall carbon footprint (particularly in the U.K, USA and Europe).

Dyesol is well positioned to address the world’s largest energy demand, due to the fact that their technology and products can operate in any light conditions and at any angle to the sun – a Unique Selling Proposition for Dyesol’s Dye Solar Cells.

More than ever, the pace of DSC commercialisation is being dictated by urgent global economic and environmental drivers. As recently as the April G20 meeting in London, governments have demonstrated their commitment to meeting the challenges of global warming through promises of new legislation and policy, thus creating significant new opportunities for DSC technologies. DSC technology is the most advanced of the third generation technologies and promises solutions where other technologies cannot deliver.

The global solar photovoltaic market was valued at almost US $30 billion in 2008 and is forecast to reach US$100 billion in revenues by 2013. It looks like a good time to take a slice of this massive potential market.

Buy Dyesol Ltd (ASX:DYE) up to AU$1.10