Swift Solar, a specialist in perovskite tandem photovoltaics, plans to construct a manufacturing facility within the US within the subsequent two to a few years to provide thin-film photo voltaic.
From pv journal USA
Swift Solar introduced the closing of its $27 million Series A financing spherical, which follows a $7 million award from the Department of Energy below the Advancing US Thin-Film Solar Photovoltaics funding program.
The firm, based in 2017 is a spinout of MIT, Stanford University and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), and makes a speciality of perovskite tandem photovoltaics. The new know-how combines steel halide perovskite with silicon or different perovskite to create tandem cells with larger effectivity than conventional photo voltaic cells.
The $27 million funding spherical was joined by Eni Next and Fontinalis Partners. Also taking part within the spherical are new and current traders together with Stanford University, Good Growth Capital, BlueScopeX, HL Ventures, Toba Capital, Sid Sijbrandij, James Fickel, Adam Winkel, Fred Ehrsam, Jonathan Lin, and Climate Capital.
The $7 million DOE funding is a part of a $71 million funding, together with $16 million from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, which helps analysis, improvement and demonstration initiatives to assist develop the home photo voltaic provide chain. Swift Solar is one in every of 4 awardees engaged on tandem PV gadgets that pair established PV applied sciences akin to silicon and copper indium gallium diselenide (CIGS) with perovskites.
In whole, Swift Solar has raised $44 million to scale up its know-how because it prepares to interrupt floor on its first manufacturing facility.
“Solar is the way forward for power—not simply clear power,” mentioned Joel Jean, co-founder and CEO of Swift Solar. “Our superior perovskite photo voltaic cells could outperform something presently obtainable in the marketplace.”
The firm’s new vapor deposition know-how could assist it to speed up the event of its tandem resolution. The new methodology is a non-batch course of that solves two issues related to using established vapor processing in perovskite materials manufacturing – the sluggish deposition price and the discontinuous nature in batch processing.
“Our deposition methodology permits for the continual deposition of a totally absorbing perovskite materials in lower than 5 minutes,” corresponding creator Tobias Abzieher from Swift Solar, a startup of US-based perovskite PV, mentioned. pv journal. “Solar cells ready with these supplies outperform beforehand realized efficiencies of vapor-processed inorganic perovskite photo voltaic cells.”
In its announcement, Swift Solar mentioned that perovskite photo voltaic cell manufacturing makes use of much less materials and fewer power, which ought to decrease manufacturing prices and carbon air pollution, probably lowering the price of photo voltaic as much as 30%. “The perovskite provide chain might be fully based mostly within the United States and appropriate international locations, creating an enormous alternative to develop home manufacturing,” in keeping with Swift.
Swift Solar’s preliminary merchandise are designed for integration into high-performance solar-powered merchandise akin to automobile rooftops or space-based satellites. The firm reviews that it’s planning a rooftop photo voltaic product for launch within the close to future.
Swift Solar was lately named one in every of TIME’s Top GreenTech Companies in America. In April, The Solar Energy Manufacturers for America (SEMA) Coalition introduced Swift Solar as a brand new member.
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