U.S-based company CubicPV has announced plans to establish 10 GW of conventional mono wafer capacity in the United States.
While CubicPV reports that its new factory will produce conventional silicon wafers, the company said it will continue research and development of its tandem modules, which reportedly offer more than 30% greater efficiency than the highest efficiency conventional modules. The design stacks two solar cells, with silicon on the bottom, powered by CubicPV’s Direct Wafer technology, and perovskite on the top, the company claims that the tandem design “will dramatically increase the power of every acre of solar deployed.”
CubicPV was formed last year from the merger of Hunt Perovskite Technologies and 1366 Technologies, a company that was founded in 2008 and headquartered in Bedford, Mass. 1366 Technologies was known for its direct wafer technology, which forms wafers directly, using molten silicon, instead of silicon ingots sawn into wafers. The advantage is less loss because it uses a kerfless wafer production that does not require silicon ingots to be sawn into wafers, a time-consuming process that wastes material as silicon dust. Instead, 1366’s technology forms wafers directly, using molten silicon. Founded in 2013, Texas-based Hunt Perovskite Technologies specializes in metal halide perovskite in single-junction solar panels for the utility-scale market. By merging Hunt with 1366, the result was a new production process that combines 1366’s direct wafer process and Hunt’s printed perovskite solar photovoltaic technology.
CubicPV has not yet chosen a site for its U.S. facility, but says the design has begun. The company expects to finalize the site choice in Q1 2023. Construction is anticipated to be completed in 2024 with the factory fully ramped in 2025.
CubicPV recently attracted new investors including Synergy Capital and SCG Cleanergy, in support of Its silicon perovskite tandem module development, and reports that it raised $26M in Series B financing. Synergy and SCG were joined by return lead investors including Breakthrough Energy Ventures and Hunt Energy Enterprises.