Financial - Page 9

The European Commission has recently given the green light to an agreement to finance the NEXUS project, focused on the development of innovative processes for TANGO HJT/Perovskite technology for the production of sustainable and high-performance photovoltaic modules.

Coordinated by the University of Oxford, the NEXUS project is supported by a multidisciplinary consortium with 12 partners from 9 European countries; 5 industrial partners, including 2 small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs); and 7 research and technology organizations.

After securing an investment from SPARX Group's Mirai Creation Fund III last month, Japan-based EneCoat Technologies, developer of materials for perovskite solar cells, has received an undisclosed sum from Mitsubishi Materials and NGK Insulators.

This is Mitsubishi's second investment in EneCoat, following the one in May 2020 through its MMC Innovation Investment Limited Partnership (CVC). Mitsubishi says it aims to strengthen the relationship with EneCoat through this additional financing to work on the development of materials for the electron transport layer. Mitsubishi is already collaborating with EneCoat on its R&D.

Japan-based EneCoat Technologies, developer of materials for perovskite solar cells, has received an investment from SPARX Group's Mirai Creation Fund III.

EneCoat intends to use this fundraising round to strengthen its R&D capabilities to help realize carbon neutrality. Its efforts include installing pilot equipment for next-gen perovskite solar cells and accelerating the development of IoT sensors and wearable devices.

A new project, one of eight that successfully secured funding from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem (HUJI) ' Zelman Cowen Academic Initiatives (ZCAI), Australia this year, will focus on developing X-ray detectors from metal halide perovskite materials.

Associate Professor Guohua Jia, from Curtin University's School of Molecular and Life Sciences, said X-ray detectors based on metal halide perovskites are highly sensitive, enabling a very low detection limit, meaning they could lower medical expenses and reduce the risk of radiation to patients.

UK-based perovskite material developer Helio Display Materials announced that it has raised $4.75 million in its Series A funding round. The funds will be used to significantly expand the company's team and also a move to custom-built labs.

Helio Display Materials was spun-off from both Oxford and Cambridge University, to commercialize photoluminescent and electroluminescent perovskite-based materials for the display industry. In June 2020 we posted an interview with Helio's CEO, Simon B. Jones, discussing the company's technology and business

The European Research Council (ERC) has awarded a €1.5 million Starting Grant to Professor Michael Saliba from the University of Stuttgart to support his research on perovskite thin films, where he will work on using light to control uncontrolled film growth.

Professor Saliba heads the Institute for Photovoltaics (IPV) in the German university. He has secured the grant for his LOCAL-HEAT project (Controlled Local Heating to Crystallize Solution-based Semiconductors for Next-Generation Solar Cells and Optoelectronics). He believes his research will enable the development of highly efficient perovskite solar cells that maintain their stability over several decades.

The U.S. Department of Energy has awarded The University of Toledo (UToledo) a one-year, $300,000 grant to advance research that could lead to the integration of promising perovskite solar cell technology into existing production lines for cadmium-selenide-telluride (CST)-based solar cells, maximizing the performance of thin-film tandem solar cells and reducing the costs of energy.

UToledo's work aims to collect light from both the front and back sides of the solar panel while interconnecting layers of perovskites and CST cells on both the front and the back faces of the solar panel. UToledo has a patent pending on the technology called monolithic bifacial perovskite-CST tandem cell.

Saule Technologies, developer and manufacturer of perovskite solar cells, recently announced that it is 'making good progress towards getting listed on the NewConnect Alternative Trading System'.

Saule and its shareholders, including the majority holder, Columbus Elite Global S.A. (formerly Blumerang Investors S.A.), have signed an investment agreement, setting the rules for Columbus Elite Global (CEG) to acquire Saule's shares. With this transaction, Saule will become part of the CEG capital group, which is listed on NewConnect. In return for transferring their shares to Columbus Elite Global, Saule's shareholders will get shares in the higher share capital of CEG.

The US Department of Energy (DoE) awarded nearly $40 Million for grid-decarbonizing solar technologies projects. The DoE awarded the funds to 40 research projects, several of which are perovskite related. We'll list the perovskite projects (which were awarded a total of $1.25 million) below.

The DoE also issued a request for information (RFI) to gather input on efficiency, stability and replicability performance targets for perovskite photovoltaic devices that could be utilized to demonstrate technical and commercial readiness for future funding programs.

The German Research Foundation (DFG) is funding a new project, kicked off on October 5, 2021, called 'project HIPER-LASE'. The new project will explore the potential of perovskite semiconductors for realizing an on-chip electrically pumped laser.

Integrated photonic-circuits could trigger the next technological revolution in microelectronics. The prerequisite, however, is the availability of a cost-effective and scalable manufacturing technology. An excellent candidate for this task is the photonics platform based on silicon/silicon-nitride. What is still missing though, is an integrable laser source. In the DFG-funded project HIPER-LASE, AMO and partners RWTH Aachen University, the University of Wuppertal and the University of Siegen will explore the potential of perovskite semiconductors for realizing an on-chip electrically pumped laser.