First Solar (NASDAQ: FSLR), a leading American solar technology company, has announced that it has further strengthened its global leadership in thin film photovoltaics (PV) by acquiring Evolar, a European developer of perovskite technology. 

The purchase price is approximately $38 million paid at closing and up to an additional $42 million to be paid subject to certain technical milestones being achieved in the future. The acquisition is expected to accelerate the development of next generation PV technology, including high efficiency tandem devices, by integrating Evolar’s know-how with First Solar’s existing research and development (R&D) streams, intellectual property portfolio, and expertise in developing and commercially scaling thin film PV.

A new consortium of academic and industry partners, Tandems for Efficient and Advanced Modules using Ultrastable Perovskites, or TEAMUP, looks to help mitigate climate change by making a new generation of solar technology commercially viable.

The three-year TEAMUP collaboration, which is planned to start in the fall of 2023, is supported by $9 million in funding from the U.S. Department of Energy. TEAMUP seeks to maximize the performance and reliability of tandem solar panels for consumer use.

The US Department of Energy supports perovskite R&D initiatives, both in academia and industry. We have recently interviewed Lenny Tinker, Photovoltaics Program Manager, Solar Energy Technologies Office at the US DoE.

Q: Hello Lenny, thanks for your time. Do you believe perovskite materials hold the key to next-gen solar (PV) energy?

Perovskite solar cells have shown potential for high performance and low production costs. However, considerable work needs to be done in order for these materials to reach commercial success in PV applications.

U.S-based PV company, Ascent Solar Technologies (ASTI), has announced that it has entered into a USD $5 million debt financing agreement with BD1 Investment Holdings, a substantial existing stockholder of the Company. The Company will receive the monies in four monthly installments. The first tranche (for $2 million) will close in mid-May 2023. Three subsequent tranches (each for $1 million) will close in mid-June, mid-July, and mid-August 2023. The proceeds of the investment will be used for general business operations and working capital for future initiatives.

This commitment from BD1 Holdings arrives as the Company accelerates a strategic plan that includes global expansion, new revenue streams and progress in perovskites solar technology. This announcement is preceded by a series of announcements including a 300% increase in modern manufacturing capacity at a new location in Switzerland, a new $9M round of equity financing, and the inauguration of a new Center of Excellence focused on Perovskites commercialization.

The US Department of Energy (DoE) has announced USD$52 million (EUR 47.5 million) in funding for 19 research, development and demonstration projects that seek to strengthen domestic solar manufacturing, support the recycling of solar panels and develop new solar technologies.

This funding will back several projects, among which two projects, led by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and the University of Colorado Boulder, will receive a total of USD$18 million through the PV Research and Development funding programme to advance perovskite solar cell devices.

The U.S. Department of Energy Solar Energy Technologies Office (SETO) has announced that a team of researchers, led by MIT and including the University of California San Diego, has been selected to receive a $11.25 Million cost-shared award to establish a new research center that will advance the development of next-generation solar cells for commercial use.

A collaborative effort with CubicPV, solar startup Verde Technologies, and Princeton University, the center will bring together teams of researchers to support the creation of perovskite-silicon tandem solar modules. These are solar cells made of stacked materials—silicon paired with perovskites—that together absorb more of the solar spectrum than single materials, resulting in a dramatic increase in efficiency. Their potential to generate significantly more power than conventional solar cells could make a meaningful difference in the race to combat climate change and the transition to a clean-energy future.

The SuPerTandem project started in October 2022, for a period of 36 months. It received EC project contribution of €4,930,196.25. The project includes 15 partners from 8 countries – top research institutions, universities and industrial producers of perovskite photovoltaic modules, equipment producers, and an industry leader in laser micromachining that put their effort together to maximize the efficiency of perovskite solar cells. 

In March 2023, a project meeting was held, after which the team drafted a press release that updated: "The SuPerTandem project team is working on a breakthrough perovskite photovoltaic tandem technology with the aim to offer to the solar energy market a perovskite solar panel which is affordable for only 20 EUR per square meter, made of low-cost, widely available raw materials and manufactured by low carbon footprint production process".

The US Department of Energy (DOE) recently announced up to $47 million in funding (DE-FOA-0002920) to accelerate the research, development, and demonstration (RD&D) of affordable clean hydrogen technologies. 

This funding opportunity focuses on RD&D of key hydrogen delivery and storage technologies as well as affordable and durable fuel cell technologies. The RD&D projects will focus particularly on applications for heavy-duty trucks, to reduce carbon dioxide emissions and eliminate tailpipe emissions that are harmful to local air quality. Among the specific topics to be funded in this interest area is perovskite-based catalysts, under the headline of "Hydrogen Carrier Development".

University of Sydney's Professor Anita Ho-Baillie is joining forces with Sydney-based renewable technology company SunDrive to commercialize perovskite-silicon cells, with backing from the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) of AUD$2.78 million (over USD$1.9 million).

Other investigators on the project include Professor David McKenzie, Dr Jianghui Zheng and Dr Arafat Mahmud, who are based at the University of Sydney, and Mr Vince Allen, Mr David Hu and Professor Alison Lennon from SunDrive.

Warwick University has been granted £2.2 million (over USD$2,620,000) to investigate metal halide perovskite compounds, for use in transparent and flexible solar panels, which remain stable in space. A new Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) spectrometer will be used to understand how to increase lifespan and durability of these solar cells.

The European Research Council (ERC) has approved a five-year study which will explore the atomic-level structure of perovskite solar cell materials. This will address issues including stability and lifespan of metal halide perovskite compounds, which decrease in high humidity, strong sunlight and at elevated temperatures.