U.S. perovskite company Tandem PV has closed on the first half of a $12 million Series A raise after raising $6 million for building a pilot manufacturing facility in its headquarters of San Jose, California. The company will use this investment to manufacture its first commercial-grade tandem solar panels intended to equip customers with more efficient and affordable solar energy.
Tandem PV specializes in what’s known as “ultra-high-efficiency” tandem metal-halide perovskite solar panels. This process involves changing silicon solar panels into high-efficiency tandems by leveraging perovskite-coated front glass via a drop-in manufacturing replacement.
Tandem PV was co-founded by materials science Ph.D. Colin Bailie, who developed the design during his time at Stanford University, and solar industry stalwart and former CTO of Hanwha Solar Chris Eberspacher.
“We have tremendous market pull from residential solar installers, end-users, equipment distributors, and utilities – the industry is ready for more sustainable, efficient, and cost-effective solar panels,” said co-founder and CEO Bailie.
“Tandem PV is on a fast track to develop, demonstrate and commercialize perovskite and silicon tandem solar panels for homes across the United States and worldwide,” said Eberspacher.
There have been a number of notable announcements in the perovskite technology space recently, which some see as the future of solar and believe it has the potential to outperform current efficiency ratings. At the start of this month, battery storage manufacturer NGK Insulators invested in EneCoat Technologies, a Perovskite-focused spin-out of Kyoto University. Additionally, back in February, researchers in Saudi Arabia reported “the first-ever” successful damp-heat test of perovskite solar cells, which they claimed moved the technology closer to commercial viability after it withstood 1,000 hours of harsh conditions and maintained a 95% efficiency.
