Newcastle-based printed solar technology company Kardinia Energy has received $2.15 million (USD 1.5 million) in funding from the Australian government Industry Growth Program (IGP) to help accelerate the scale-up of its flexible printed solar technology.
The Scaling Australian-Made Printed Solar for Renewable Energy Growth project will transition the technology from university-based proof-of-concept to pilot-scale manufacturing.
Kardinia is located at the Newcastle Institute for Energy and Resources, approximately 150 kilometres north of Sydney, and made headlines in 2025 for partnering with rock bank Coldplay when it deployed mobile solar at a live concert venue.
Image: Anna Lee Media
The IGP funds will help increase production throughput and module efficiency, enabling early market demonstrations and customer validation.
Produced using reel-to-reel printing techniques on recyclable PET plastic, Kardinia’s manufacturing cost target is below $10 per square metre, and a weight of less than 0.3 kilograms per square metre.
Kardinia estimates there is more than 4 billion square metres of low weight bearing industrial roof space globally that cannot take the weight of traditional solar panel arrays, which in Australia represents 2.4 GW of energy that could be generated by installed printed solar.
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