Financial - Page 3

It was reported that Renshine Solar will open a gigawatt-scale perovskite PV module factory in Jiangsu province, with a planned investment of CNY 1 billion ($138 million). 

The CNY 1 billion gigawatt-scale perovskite cell project will be located in the Economic and Technological Development Zone (ETDZ) in Changshu, Jiangsu province, China. The Company started operating a 150 MW production line for perovskite modules in January. It has since claimed that its commercial modules have achieved a power conversion efficiency of 18.4%.

Funding totaling AUD$58.3 million (over USD$38,781,000) has been announced through a recent round of the Australian Laureate Fellowships scheme, supporting projects including quantum computing devices, more durable perovskite-based solar photovoltaic cells, and terahertz biosensing.

The funding was announced through the scheme, which is part of ARC’s Discovery Program and supports researchers “to design ambitious research programs around a team of postdoctoral fellows and postgraduate students” in various fields.

Microquanta, a perovskite solar cell manufacturer based in Hangzhou, China, has announced its latest procurement of state-of-the-art vacuum deposition equipment from SMIT Thermal Solutions. This significant acquisition, surpassing 9 million Euros in value, marks a pivotal moment in Microquanta's journey towards launching the world's first gigawatt-scale (GW) perovskite solar cell factory in Hangzhou.

This collaboration with SMIT Thermal Solutions is not a first for Microquanta; the Dutch-based company has been a partner since 2018, starting with a pilot setup, followed by the delivery of a mass production system for Microquanta's 100MW factory. The latest deal involves cutting-edge next-generation mass production systems, tailored to meet the ambitious scale and efficiency goals of Microquanta's GW factory.

It was reported that about a week ago, Kunshan GCL Optoelectronic Material launched the first phase of a photovoltaic energy storage equipment production project was launched, backed by a total investment of Yuan 570 million (over USD$80 million).

The project is undertaken by Kunshan High-Tech Group, which is responsible for the customized construction of a high standard factory area for the 1 GW production project of perovskite photovoltaic modules for enterprises. 

As part of the Investing in America agenda, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) recently announced a $71 million investment in research, development, and demonstration projects to grow the network of domestic manufacturers across the U.S. solar energy supply chain. 

The selected projects will address gaps in the domestic solar manufacturing capacity for supply chain including equipment, silicon ingots and wafers, and both silicon and thin-film solar cell manufacturing. The projects will also open new markets for solar technologies such as dual-use photovoltaic (PV) applications, including building-integrated PV and agrivoltaics. 

According to a recent announcement, Verde Technologies has attracted investment from multiple venture funds and industry veterans. Most notably, the former CEO of GE Power, Steve Bolze, has joined Verde as an investor and advisor to support the company’s continued growth.

“Verde stood out to me because of the pace at which the team is able to make progress toward changing the solar paradigm. It is clear that solar energy will play a dominant role in the renewable energy transition, especially with the tailwinds of recent legislation such as the Inflation Reduction Act.” says Bolze. “Verde’s team and technology are poised to make solar manufacturing and deployment simpler, lower cost, and more accessible.”

DSCC, a provider of display market research and consulting services, recently published its projections regarding revenues from QDs. According to DSCC, demand for QD materials in the display industry is growing, and the market will grow to $100 million in 2024. It will continue to grow and reach $122 million in 2027. 

DSCC specifically predicts that perovskite materials will capture some market share. It explained that green perovskite is available but red perovskite is still under development, so it is often paired with a red phosphor. The technology is currently in the early stage of commercialization and the supply chain will take some time to build.

According to reports, Japan's government plans to advance perovskite  flexible solar power panels through the country's feed-in tariff system, seeking to encourage investment in the technology. The Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry plans to set the price of energy produced from perovskite cells at 10 yen (6 cents) per kilowatt-hour or more, higher than the current level for solar power, starting as early as fiscal 2025.

Light, flexible perovskite cells can generate electricity in places where traditional solar panel installation is not feasible, such as building walls and windows. The base technology is Japanese, and Japanese companies are involved in vigorous R&D with emphasis on quality and durability. At the same time, Chinese companies have begun mass production and are leading in commercialization.

Solaires Entreprises, a cleantech startup that develops high power conversion efficiency photovoltaic modules, has announced a Joint Venture with Genesis Technologies, a Shanghai based manufacturer. The companies will be working towards mass production of PV modules to replace batteries in indoor electronic devices, as the JV's first phase.

Solaires will provide the technology and Genesis will provide manufacturing as part of the Joint Venture. Genesis Technologies has committed to investing more than $4 Million USD to develop Solaires’ manufacturing site through purchasing production line equipment, carrying out personnel training and executing daily operations for the Joint Venture.

The Dutch government has drafted a public proposal to support the production of heterojunction and perovskite-silicon tandem modules, as well as building- and vehicle-integrated PV panels, with a maximum allocation of €70 million ($75.1 million) per solar manufacturing project. Rijksdienst voor Ondernemend Nederland (RVO), the state-run agency that manages the SDE++ program for renewable energy in the Netherlands, has publicly proposed the idea of supporting the production of solar panels, storage systems and electrolyzers. The new incentive scheme, “Investeringssubsidie maakindustrie klimaatneutrale economie” (IMKE), will fund a portion of the capital expenditure needed to build factories for the three clean energy technologies.

The RVO said that the incentives for the production of PV panels will be limited to products for building-integrated (BIPV) and vehicle-integrated (VIPV) applications, as well as heterojunction modules or perovskite-silicon tandem panels.