1366 Technologies, Inc. and Hunt Perovskite Technologies, LLC, two of the solar industry’s most innovative companies, announced that they have merged their businesses.
The merger combines two disruptive technologies – 1366’s Direct Wafer® process and HPT’s printed perovskitesolar photovoltaic (PV) technology– to bring to market powerful tandem modules to lead the rapidly growing solar industry.
The newly combined company, called CubicPV, will also receive $25 million in funding from Hunt Energy Enterprises, L.L.C. (HEE), First Solar, Inc. Breakthrough Energy Ventures (BEV) and others. HEE will join the Board of Directors.
The news follows 1366 Technologies’ recent confirmation that it is exploring manufacturing opportunities in India. As CubicPV, the company is not only on track to deliver the lowest levelized cost of energy (LCOE) in India, it also has a blueprint to realize the world’s highest efficiency modules. At the heart of both manufacturing advantages is the Direct Wafer® process, a groundbreaking innovation that produces a high performance silicon wafer directly from molten silicon.
“India has a choice its predecessors in crystalline silicon solar manufacturing did not have, to elect innovation such as the Direct Wafer process over generic silicon technology. This advantage offers immediate traction by supporting both domestic generation and an export industry,” said Frank van Mierlo, CEO of the new CubicPV. “With innovation-led technologies such as Direct Wafer and perovskite tandem, we believe India has an opportunity to become a center of gravity in solar manufacturing. Direct Wafer offers the ideal solution for India’s domestic utility market and tandem delivers global leadership.”
Disruptive technology
To date, the solar industry has primarily depended on single junction PV technology or the use of only one light absorbing material, often silicon, to convert sunlight to electricity. This technology is approaching a module efficiency ceiling of 24 per cent, through small, incremental gains. Tandemtechnology, also referred to as multi-junction, introduces a much needed dynamic in that it layerstwo light absorbers into one device, thereby breaking the efficiency barrier of single junction devices and boosting the power output of the end panel by 30 per cent.
Featured photograph relates to the “Direct Wafer” technology of 1366 Technologies Inc.
