Financial

NREL team builds comprehensive manufacturing cost model for perovskite/silicon tandem solar modules

Increasing module efficiency and expanding manufacturing capacity play complementary roles in reducing costs of metal halide perovskite/silicon tandem solar modules, according to researchers at the U.S. Department of Energy's National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL). Each cost lever can play a similar role depending on a manufacturer’s ability to scale up and improve module performance.

They explain that tandem PV technology, created by pairing silicon with metal halide perovskites (MHPs) for example, can help create a solar module that can convert more sunlight to electricity than using silicon alone. This tandem technology is still in the early stages, and there are multiple options being pursued to integrate MHPs and silicon, with a lot of unknowns in terms of cost and performance. To address this gap, the researchers built a manufacturing cost model that combines laboratory processes with existing equipment and supply chains to compare different possible approaches at scale.

Read the full story Posted: Jan 12,2025

Swansea University leads £3 million project to develop and manufacture sustainable perovskite solar modules in Africa

A new Swansea University-led project has been awarded £3 million to develop and manufacture sustainable perovskite solar modules (PSMs) in Africa, empowering local communities and promoting sustainable energy.

REACH-PSM (Resilient Renewable Energy Access Through Community-Driven Holistic Development in Perovskite Solar Module Manufacturing) aims to establish the continent’s first full-scale demonstration of next-generation solar manufacturing. Funded by the UKRI Ayrton Challenge Programme, REACH-PSM is a collaboration with universities, businesses, and local communities in Nigeria, Rwanda, Kenya, and South Africa.

Read the full story Posted: Jan 09,2025

Sekisui Chemical plans 100 MW perovskite solar production line as part of move for commercialization

Sekisui Chemical has announced it was selected for the GX Supply Chain Construction Support Project by Japan's Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry. The company would like to play a central role in realizing the government's goal of establishing a gigawatt (GW) level supply system by 2030, and has therefore decided to make a capital investment with the aim of starting operation of a 100 MW manufacturing line in 2027, for producing lightweight perovskite solar panels, to be used initially for low load-bearing rooftops. 

The Company plans to take over the buildings of Sharp Corporation in Sakai City, Osaka Prefecture, and install perovskite solar cell manufacturing facilities to carry out manufacture and sales.

Read the full story Posted: Dec 28,2024

Homerun Resources acquires Halocell Europe

Homerun Resources has signed a binding agreement to acquire Halocell Europe, a perovskite solar technology company, aiming to advance the commercialization of perovskite solar cells. Homerun Resources has agreed to purchase all of the issued and outstanding shares of Halocell Europe from Halocell Energy. This acquisition positions Homerun as a key player in the solar energy market, leveraging Halocell’s expertise and ongoing projects in Europe.

Homerun is developing a vertically integrated business within the energy transition focused on the solar and energy storage sectors. Halocell focuses on research and development of perovskite technology to produce perovskite solar cells. Halocell Europe has more than EUR 2 million in active grants for research and commercial development projects and has received more than EUR 5 million in grant contributions from various European institutions. Halocell Europe has 18 months of working capital coverage in place for current operations.

Read the full story Posted: Dec 18,2024

PXP raises close to USD$10 million in Series A funding with SoftBank as lead investor

Japan-based startup PXP Corporation, developer of lightweight and flexible solar cells, has raised a total of 1.5 billion yen (almost USD$10 million) in Series A funding, led by SoftBank Corp., with participation from SOLABLE Corporation, Kowa Optronics Co., Ltd., Toyota Tsusho Corporation, J&TC Frontier LLC (a joint investment vehicle between JFE Engineering Corporation and Tokyo Century Corporation), Automobile Fund Co., Ltd., Mitsubishi HC Capital Co., Ltd., Yokohama Capital Co., Ltd., and TARO Ventures. SoftBank has invested approximately 1 billion yen and acquired approximately 29.9% of PXP's shares.

The solar cell technology being developed by PXP has a tandem structure that combines perovskite solar cells and chalcopyrite solar cells, said to achieve more than 1.5 times the energy conversion efficiency (theoretical value: about 42%) of conventional solar cells. In addition, it is lightweight and flexible, weighing about one-tenth of conventional solar cells, and has high durability against shock and vibration. It can be installed in various locations depending on the application, and it is expected to reduce installation costs. PXP and SoftBank aim to use PXP's next-generation solar cells for various purposes, such as operating SoftBank's data center with green energy, in anticipation of future electricity demand.

Read the full story Posted: Dec 11,2024

Kunshan GCL Optoelectronic Material completes C1 financing round

Kunshan GCL Optoelectronic Material, a perovskite optoelectronic technology company under GCL Technology Holdings, has recently completed the C1 round of financing led by Goldstone Investment, involving nearly RMB500 million (around USD$68,850,000).

This round of financing introduced institutions such as Kunshan High-Tech Group and HongShan to participate in the investment, and the proceeds will be used to build Kunshan GCL Optoelectronic Material's Kunshan gigawatt perovskite Ore stacked production line, which is expected to be put into operation in 2025. 

Read the full story Posted: Dec 09,2024

TU/e researcher receives an ERC Consolidator Grant worth 2 million euros to study chirality in perovkites

Two Eindhoven University of Technology researchers, Shuxia Tao and Nikolay Kosinov, have received an ERC Consolidator Grant worth 2 million euros from the European Research Council (ERC). Tao will research the chirality of materials with perovskites, and Kosinov will focus on carbon-based catalysts. 

Schematic representation of chiral material structures. Image credit: TU/e, Shuxia Tao 

Shuxia Tao, a Professor of Computational Materials Physics at the Department of Applied Physics and Science Education, studies semiconductors such as perovskites. During Tao’s research, she noted that many materials, both organic and inorganic, have chiral properties. She explains: “Chirality refers to a property where objects are mirror images of each other but cannot be superimposed, like our left and right hands. This property is universal in nature, appearing in everything from twisting DNA to the spin of subatomic particles.”

Read the full story Posted: Dec 08,2024

CityUHK researchers receive NSFC funding to promote high-performance perovskite/organic tandem solar cells

Three research projects by City University of Hong Kong (CityUHK) scholars have been awarded funding under the 2024/25 National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC) and the Research Grants Council (RGC) Collaborative Research Scheme (CRS), amounting to over HK$8.8 million (around USD$1,130,000). Additionally, five CityUHK scholars have been awarded funding from the 2024/25 NSFC/RGC Joint Research Scheme (JRS), with total funding exceeding HK$6 million (over USD$770,000). 

Among the CityUHK research projects awarded funding under the Collaborative Research Scheme is  “Theoretically Guided Material Design, Syntheses and Device Engineering for Efficient and Stable Perovskite/Organic Tandem Solar Cells”, led by Professor Zeng Xiaocheng, Head and Chair Professor of the Department of Materials Science and Engineering, which aims to develop high-performance perovskite/organic tandem solar cells with efficiencies exceeding 28%, promoting the development of sustainable clean energy while advocating global carbon neutrality.

Read the full story Posted: Nov 16,2024

MOL PLUS to invest in EneCoat Technologies

MOL PLUS has announced its intent to invest in EneCoat Technologies, a spin-off company from Kyoto University that develops perovskite solar cells and related materials.

MOL PLUS stated it is "pleased to participate in this fundraising" and views the widespread use of perovskite solar cells as a revolutionary solution that will enable power generation anywhere, indoors or outdoors. Moving forward, the MOL Group plans to study a wide range of applications in the port, logistics, and real property fields, including installation on the decks of freighters and on the roofs and walls of port facilities such as warehouses and terminal cargo handling centers.

Read the full story Posted: Nov 13,2024

Japanese Government to fund perovskite solar cell demonstration project

It was reported that Japan's Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) and the New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization (NEDO) have decided to support a demonstration project for perovskite solar cells conducted by Sekisui Chemical and Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings (HD). 

The total project cost is estimated at about 18.3 billion yen ( just under USD$119,000,000), with approximately 12.5 billion yen (around USD$81 million) to be subsidized through the Green Innovation (GI) Fund project. The project will verify installation methods, construction methods, and mass production technologies that take advantage of the unique characteristics of perovskite solar cells.

Read the full story Posted: Nov 07,2024