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Risk-takers enjoying a boom amid the gloom By Maeve Sheehan The Sunday Independent, April 26, 2009

THE economy is sliding from recession to depression. The Government has slashed spending. Companies are going bust every day. Those who have money are holding on to it and only the rich and the brave are spending.  Here three entrepreneurs who are enjoying a boom during the gloom show how, even in an economic downturn, good business ideas will prevail.

Imagine treating household goods with a substance that could convert energy from the sun to power; SolarPrint is a green energy company working on doing just that.

The company was founded by Dr Mazhar Bari, a Dublin-based physicist who has developed a new solar cell solution with enormous commercial potential. Dr Bari patented his work last year and teamed up with Roy Horgan and Andre Fernon, who have business backgrounds, to develop this new solar technology for the market.

Although the science is complex, the impact of his invention is easy to grasp. Effectively, he has developed a new solar cell substance that could be applied like paint to household goods such as batteries, laptops, glass or metal.

Theoretically, the substance could be integrated into a car, allowing the motor to recharge itself using solar power, according to Fernon. Thanks to initial investment from friends and family, the company has recently developed a prototype. The next step is the production line.

After that, the company, based in Blackpitts in Dublin's south inner city, is targeting developing countries with unreliable and patchy electricity supply. The aim is to produce self-charging mobile phone batteries, harnessing energy from natural sunlight, all in line with the company's motto to be an "ethical, innovative, world-class provider of secure and sustainable solar energy".
- Maeve Sheehan-

http://www.independent.ie/national-news/risktakers-enjoying-a-boom-amid-the-gloom-1720323.html


Today FM Sunday Business Show
17th May 2009 Dr. Mazhar Bari