(fw) In the evening of the 21st March the "ZKB Pioneering Prize Technopark", sponsored by the Zürcher Kantonalbank, was awarded in Technopark Zurich. The prize went to Flisom (1), a company founded by five ETH physicists. The successful young entrepreneurs have developed a new manufacturing method for flexible solar cells (2). These cells are not only extremely light, thin and stable, but also very efficient. Already in 1999 the group around Ayodhya N. Tiwari succeeded in setting a new world record for plastic substrate solar cells.

The solar cells for which they received the prize last week comprises a semi-conductor compound made of copper, indium, gallium and selenium and plastic foil as substrate. Thanks to the suppleness of the plastic foil it can easily be attached to curved surfaces and is thus especially suitable for use in mobile electronic devices. With average levels of solar radiation, one foil the size of an A3 sheet is enough to power a standard laptop.

This is already the second success that these ETH physicists have been able to chalk up this year. At the beginning of February they received a prize in the first round of the business plan competition, Venture 2006 (3). With the ZKB Pioneering Prize Technopark they are now reaping the reward for a technological innovation, which, thanks to entrepreneurial pioneering effort, stands shortly before its market launch. In actual fact the company plans to put the foil on the market in two to three years. The prize money in 31'415.92 CHF–a number drawn from the value of Pi as a symbol for science and technology.