Bourne-based energy firm seeks support for innovative solar power system for isolated communities overseas.

Lark Energy's solar steam array. Funding could see a mobile version deliver renewable heat and power for off-grid rural communities in India.

Lark Energy hopes the funding will help it create a container-sized and easily moveable model of its solar system technology to deliver renewable heat and power to isolated communities.

Solar steam concentrates the power of the sun’s rays to heat water to create steam that can be used in industrial processes.

Simone Perini, renewable energy development engineer at Lark Energy, said: “Solar steam has the potential to transform energy access in developing countries.

“We’re looking at delivering a mobile containerised energy system able to operate where the grid is unbalanced, unreliable or unavailable – like rural India.”

If successful, the firm plans to embark on a two-year project with Cranfield University and an Indian solar collector manufacturer, to develop the mobile version of its system.

The cost is £550,000 and Lark Energy’s parent company, Larkfleet, is contributing £128,000.

The application has been made to the government-sponsored Energy Catalyst mid-stage technology development competition.

It seeks to encourage the development of new technologies to solve global energy concerns.

It comes just weeks after Lark Energy submitted a separate application for funds to test its new renewable solar thermal system in Mexico.

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