Financial - Page 2

The Michigan Translational Research and Commercialization Advanced Transportation Innovation Hub has awarded over $1.5 million to 15 projects driving commercial potential in transportation technologies. 

Among the recipients are Assistant Professor of Chemical Engineering Xiwen Gong, whose research addresses the challenges in the large-scale production of perovskite solar cells. Gong’s project aims to create low-cost, large-scale perovskite solar cells with high efficiency and stability needed for potential applications in the electric and hybrid vehicle and industry.

The EU-funded project PEARL aims to achieve improvements in solar energy technology by incorporating carbon electrodes into perovskite solar cell architectures. This enhancement is expected to lead to reduced material costs, increased device stability, simplified fabrication processes, and significantly lower emissions. The project started on 1st October 2023 and will run 36 months. PEARL receives funding from the European Union’s Horizon Europe research and innovation program.

The project is coordinated by Teknologian Tutkimuskeskus VTT Oy, and includes partners like the Nederlandse Organisatie voor Toegepast Natuurwetenschappelijk Onderzoek TNO, Helmholtz-Zentrum für Materialien und Energie GmbH, Università degli Studi di Roma Tor Vergata, ICIQ, Dycotec Materials LTD, Fraunhofer Institute for Electron Beam and Plasma Technology FEP, Fachhochschule Nordwestschweiz, Saule Spółka Akcyjna and Eni SPA.

GCL Technology, one of China’s largest solar panel materials producers, will reportedly invest 700 million yuan (almost USD$98 million) to transition to a more lucrative next-generation technology, as the industry grapples with losses and oversupply.

The Hong Kong-listed company aims to complete the first phase of a 500 megawatt (MW) plant in Kunshan by the middle of next year, for solar modules that combine cells stacked with perovskite and crystalline silicon, according to a statement by Fan Bin, chairman of GCL Perovskite. “The value of the [nascent] perovskite technology lies in the ample room for uplifting its energy conversion efficiency,” he said. “That is why manufacturers are willing to invest in its development.” The future cost of production using the perovskite-silicon technology could be lower than the crystalline silicon technology, he added.

Prominent U.S solar panel maker, First Solar (Nasdaq: FSLR), is reportedly building a new research and development (R&D) innovation center in Lake Township, Ohio, believed to be the largest facility of its kind in the Western Hemisphere - The Jim Nolan Center for Solar Innovation. The new center is part of an approximately half-billion dollar investment by First Solar in R&D infrastructure, and the company expects to also commission a perovskite development line at its Perrysburg, Ohio, campus in the second half of 2024. 

The facility covers 1.3 million square feet and includes a high-tech pilot manufacturing line allowing for the production of full-sized prototypes of thin film and tandem PV modules. Prior to the commissioning of the Jim Nolan Center, First Solar utilized a manufacturing line at its Perrysburg facility for its late-stage product development efforts. This arrangement limited the flexibility for development efforts and created constraints when mission-critical tools had to go offline. By resolving these limitations and constraints, the new facility is expected to accelerate innovation cycles.

INPEX CORPORATION, a large Japanese exploration and production (E&P) company, has announced it has made an investment in EneCoat Technologies, a Kyoto University-based startup company that develops next-generation perovskite solar cells. This is part of a series C round that totaled in 5.5 billion yen (around USD$35 million) and was led by Toyota’s growth fund, Woven Capital and and Mitsubishi HC Capital (in addition to INPEX). Existing investors Mirai Creation Fund III and Kyoto University Innovation Capital participated in the round, bringing the total funding raised to over 8 billion yen (over USD$50 million).

As perovskite solar cells use iodine compounds as raw materials, INPEX is well positioned to tap synergies in terms of raw material supply through its operations at the Naruto Gas Field in Chiba Prefecture, a water-soluble gas field where subsurface brine water is used to produce iodine following the extraction of natural gas.

Rice University materials scientist, Boris Yakobson, has won three awards from two federal agencies totaling $4,140,611 over several years to research challenging aspects of advanced materials’ production, performance and dynamics. A project titled “Mapping the synthetic routes for 2-dimensional materials” aims to unravel the molecular mechanisms that would enable the production of 2D materials for use in microchips and future electronics at industrial scale and quality.

Building on previous work on several iconic 2D materials such as graphene, molybdenum disulfide and hexagonal boron nitride, the Yakobson Research Group aims to establish a general approach to the development of predictive synthesis models for perovskites, nitrides, oxides and other materials coveted for energy and electronics applications.

Reports suggest that a new pilot line for the production of perovskite solar cells has been approved by the administrative committee of Xinzhan Hi-Tech Zone, Hefei City, Anhui Province, China. 

The project is initiated by Hefei BOE PV Company, a holding subsidiary of BOE Technology Group Co. (BOE), a company that is known to have launched a project to enter the photovoltaic industry by investing in perovskite solar cells. BOE reportedly plans to invest 871 million yuan (approximately US$119.85 million) to set up the pilot line for perovskite solar cells. 

An assistant professor at Arizona State University named Nick Rolston has received a 2024 National Science Foundation Faculty Early Career Development Program (CAREER) Award to develop standards for perovskite solar panel reliability and longevity.

As silicon solar panels have been around for decades, standards to build high-quality panels are well established after years of research and testing. However, there are no such tests or standards for perovskite panels. As a family of materials with different properties than silicon, perovskites exhibit much different behavior. Many designs developed to date degrade quickly, dropping to 80% of their original efficiency — the standard for replacement — after a year or less.

Swift Solar has announced the close of its $27 million Series A financing round. The round was co-led by Eni Next and Fontinalis Partners. Also joining the round are new and existing investors including Stanford University, Good Growth Capital, BlueScopeX, HL Ventures, Toba Capital, Sid Sijbrandij, James Fickel, Adam Winkel, Fred Ehrsam, Jonathan Lin, and Climate Capital.

In total, Swift Solar has raised $44 million for its mission to transform the solar energy landscape with perovskite tandem solar products. Proceeds from this round will accelerate Swift Solar’s scaling of efficient and stable tandem technology as the Company prepares to break ground on its first factory. Swift Solar also plans to build a factory in the U.S. in the next two to three years to manufacture thin-film solar.

TandemPV has announced that it was selected to receive a $4.7 million award from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Solar Energy Technologies Office (SETO) to pursue commercialization of its thin-film solar photovoltaic technology. 

The selected project will help TandemPV prove out its pairing of conventional silicon solar with perovskite materials for panels that have the potential to be up to 40% more powerful than those used today.