Financial

The University of Queensland (UQ) and Halocell Energy have announced they will be working together to advance tin-based perovskite solar panels.

UQ's Australian Institute for Bioengineering and Nanotechnology (AIBN) researcher Dr. Peng Chen has secured almost $200,000 through the latest Australia’s Economic Accelerator Ignite funding round to accelerate the commercial production of tin-based perovskite solar panels. Dr. Chen and his team - including UQ’s Professor Lianzhou Wang and AIBN’s Dr Dongxu He – have replaced the lead with tin, recently setting a world-record efficiency for lead-free perovskite solar cells. Now, Halocell Energy and UQ have decided to take the project to the next phase and scale up for real world use in lead-free solar panels.

Eternal Sun, developer of solar simulators for photovoltaic testing, has announced that Bolster Investment Partners has acquired an 80% majority stake in the company. 

The strategic partnership is set to accelerate Eternal Sun’s international expansion, product development, and professionalization. This milestone follows sustained growth and innovation in solar testing technology, including next-gen tandem and perovskite applications. Bolster brings not just capital, but also strategic support to realize Eternal Sun’s long-term ambitions in a rapidly evolving solar market.

UbiQD, which recently acquired BlueDot Photonics, has announced the close of its $20 million Series B financing round. The round was led by Phoenix Venture Partners (PVP), with participation from Builders VC, Azura Group, Builders Vision, Stout Street Capital, Seraph Partners, Scout Ventures, New Mexico Vintage Fund, and others. 

UbiQD's proprietary quantum dot technology aims to revolutionize light utilization in greenhouse agriculture, solar energy, security and other critical industries. By enhancing the efficiency, durability, and sustainability of fluorescence in these applications, the company is addressing major challenges across multiple sectors.

Seiko Epson Corporation and Epson X Investment Corporation have invested in South Korean Gosan Tech through a joint fund, the EP-GB L.P. 

Founded in 2015, Gosan Tech develops and sells inkjet systems for fabricating organic light-emitting diode (OLED) displays and perovskite solar cells. Through its work in this field, it has developed an ink supply system, pressure control technology, and simulation technology that enable it to achieve excellent ink droplet uniformity and precision. Gosan Tech is expanding its business in three areas: information technology, including OLED display fabrication and direct parts marking; the environment, with inkjet systems for perovskite solar cells; and bio-medical, including drug deposition, tissue engineering, and diagnostic.

According to reports, on April 10th, Futurasun (Yinchuan) Technology officially started the construction of a solar energy integrated base and large-scale power station project in Lingwu Lingang Industrial Park, Ningxia. 

Futurasun (Yinchuan) Technology reportedly invested a total of 6.5 billion yuan (over US$891 million) in the project, divided into two phases of construction. In the first phase, meant to cost 2 billion yuan, a 5GW solar module factory and 500MW perovskite pilot - scale workshop will be established; the second phase of the project will require an investment of 4.5 billion yuan for an 8GW HJT solar cell factory.

Swedish thin film solar cell manufacturer Midsummer has been chosen by the Italian Ministry of University and Research to participate in a consortium with the aim to develop "Quantum Dot CIGS/Perovskite Tandem" solar cells.

The "Quantum Dot Enhanced Lightweight Solar Cells" (QDELS) project aims to develop and validate a new production process for CIGS (Cu In Ga Se) solar cells with a tandem perovskite structure enhanced with quantum dots (QD). The ultimate objective is to develop and validate a new process to enhance the efficiency of CIGS cells, surpassing conventional silicon cells in all parameters.

Solaires Enterprises has announced a $2 Million lead investor for its seed round, as well as what the company defines as " strong interest from fellow investors, with a couple of soft-circled commitments".

This investment will serve to advance Solaires' aim of scaling its perovskite PV technology, unlocking new possibilities for high-efficiency, lightweight solar solutions. 

Power product manufacturer Hangzhou Kelin Electric (KLEC) has reportedly announced its plan to issue A-shares to raise up to RMB 1.46 billion ($201.65 million).

Of the proceeds raised, RMB 1.261 billion ($174.19 million) will be allocated to a 1 GW high-efficiency perovskite solar module plant and the remainder for working capital. 

TandemPV has announced it has secured $50 million in Series A funding and debt, led by Eclipse, with participation from Constellation Energy, Planetary Technologies, Uncorrelated Ventures, Trellis Climate, Tom Werner (former CEO of SunPower), Stifel Bank, CSC Leasing, and other existing and new investors. This investment will enable TandemPV to construct a commercial-scale manufacturing facility in the U.S., accelerating the adoption of its high-efficiency solar panels and allowing the U.S. to reduce its dependency on foreign manufacturers while increasing its energy security.

According to the statement, TandemPV's tandem perovskite panels currently achieve 28% efficiency and are projected to surpass 30% by late 2025, proving to be 30% more powerful than the average silicon solar panel. Tandem PV's panels lower labor and land costs, offering customers a lower total cost of ownership and a sustainable path toward decarbonization.

Frontier IP, a specialist in commercializing intellectual property, has announced that its portfolio company GraphEnergyTech (Frontier IP holds a 23.97% equity stake in GraphEnergyTech) has entered into a collaboration with the Taiwan Perovskite Solar Corporation, Taiwan's prestigious Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI), and the University of Cambridge to drive development of perovskite solar technology.

This new project that the four organizations have formed will be called Graphene Electrode Technology for Perovskite Solar Cells (or "GETPSC") and it has secured a £884,129 (over US$1,115,000) grant from Innovate UK.