Oxford Photovoltaics (Oxford PV) - Page 8

Oxford PV has announced it has moved its UK-based headquarters and R&D facilities to a new location in Oxford, UK. The new site consolidates and strengthens Oxford PV's UK-based perovskite photovoltaic research and development activities, by providing a larger, controlled laboratory environment, with ample space for expansion of its equipment and expertise in the future.

Oxford PV's experienced research and development team at the site will continue to focus on advancing its perovskite photovoltaic technology. Additionally, Oxford PV's UK team will continue to support the transfer of its advanced lab based perovskite on silicon tandem solar cell technology to industrial scale processes and equipment, an activity that takes place at the company's pilot line, in Brandenburg an der Havel, Germany, in close collaboration with its joint development partner ' a major manufacturer of silicon solar cells and modules.

A recent report by Cintelliq on the perovskite solar cell patent landscape shows massive growth in perovskite photovoltaic patent publications over the past two years. In 2016 and 2017 more than 1500 patents have been published representing 75% of all perovskite photovoltaic patents published since 2008.

The total number of patents published to the end of December 2017 is 2030 and filed by 396 distinct assignees. These published patents arise from innovations that occurred in previous years, as can be seen in the chart of yearly patent filed and published. As can also be seen there are fewer patent filings in 2016 and even less in 2017. However, this is not a rapid fall in filings, but a probable side effect of the length of time it takes to go from initial filing through to initial publications.

Oxford Photovoltaics announced that it was working with scientists at the new Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin (HZB) innovation lab to further the optimization of its perovskite cell materials for silicon heterojunction solar cell technology.

The new partnership with HZB aims at furthering commercialization efforts with greater leverage of HZB's silicon cell material knowledge and specifically heterojunction cells. 'Working with HZB to understand solar cell manufacturers' silicon cells, will allow Oxford PV's perovskite on silicon tandem formation to be fully optimized, to ensure the most efficient tandem solar cell, and the easy transfer of our technology into our commercial partner's industrial processes", commented Chris Case, Chief Technology Officer, at Oxford PV. 'Oxford PV is now in the final stage of commercializing its perovskite photovoltaic solution, which has the potential to enable efficiency gains that will transform the economics of silicon photovoltaic technology globally.'

Oxford Photovoltaics Germany, a subsidiary of Oxford PV, has received funding of €15 million form the European Investment Bank (EIB), to support the commercialization of its perovskite-on-silicon tandem solar cell technology.

The funding is the first in Germany under InnovFin - EU Finance for Innovators' Energy Demonstrator Projects. It relies on the financial backing of the European Union under Horizon 2010 Financial Instruments, aimed at supporting European innovators such as Oxford PV, tackling tomorrow's challenges and supporting climate action.

Oxford Photovoltaics is to receive financing from the European Investment Bank (EIB) for its planned pilot site in Germany. The bank is considering providing EUR 15 million ($17.6 million USD) for the project, which will turn an existing PV thin-film module factory in Germany into a "first-of-its-kind" plant for the production of tandem silicon-perovskite PV cells.

According to EIB, the site will allow the company to demonstrate its perovskite technology at full wafer scale in pilot volumes and deploy perovskite on silicon tandem cells. The total cost of the project is EUR 30 million.