California-based start-up Tandem PV has been awarded a US Department of Energy grant to accelerate the commercial scale-up of its perovskite PV technology.
The US$7.7 million follows Tandem PV’s selection for the DOE’s Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E) SCALEUP Ready programme, which aims to accelerate promising energy technologies toward market adoption.
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Tandem PV has developed a module that combines a thin perovskite layer with conventional silicon technology, achieving a 29.7% conversion efficiency in its internal testing. Earlier this year, the company opened a 40MW commercial demonstration facility in Fremont, California, to validate large-format production of its technology as a key step towards market adoption.
Tandem PV said selection for the DOE programme moved it another step closer to its goal of producing high-performance, domestically manufactured solar panels at a commercial scale.
“Being selected by ARPA-E for SCALEUP Ready is a strong validation of our technology, our team and our path to scale,” said Scott Wharton, CEO of Tandem PV. “The Department of Energy has backed Tandem PV since our earliest days, and we’re grateful for that continued support. This project will help us move faster toward high-volume US manufacturing at a time when America needs more affordable, reliable power.”
ARPA-E describes itself as the “disruption wing” of the DOE, backing companies and projects across the energy portfolio under the banner of “American-made energy for all”.
US production of next-generation PV cell technologies will be one of the topics under discussion at our PV CellTech USA conference in San Francisco, California, on 13-14 October. For details and booking, click here.
