Tandem PV, a perovskite solar panel developer, said it has secured a $4.7 million award from the DoE's Solar Energy Technologies Office to advance the commercialization of its thin-film solar technology.
The award is part of a larger $71 million investment by the DoE in projects that support bolstering the US solar supply chain.
The company develops solar panels that pair conventional silicon cells with perovskite materials for panels, giving them the potential to produce up to 40% more power than traditional solar modules used today, said Tandem PV.
Tandem PV’s design stacks a thin-film perovskite layer on top of the crystalline PV layer, with the two materials absorbing different wavelengths of sunlight. The company is currently producing tandem perovskite panels with about 26% efficiency, which is roughly 25% more powerful than a conventional silicon solar panel today.
Solar panel efficiency is an important metric for solar facility developers. More power at a similar price per watt leads to lower labor costs for installation, lower land-acquisition costs, and a lower total cost of ownership for customers, said the company.
“This is Tandem PV’s 10th award from the Department of Energy and we are grateful for its consistent, long-term investment and validation,” said Tandem PV co-founder and chief technology officer Colin Bailie.
The company said its has demonstrated “the equivalent of decades of projected durability” in the lab. Durability has been a key issue to solve for perovskites, which show high efficiencies, but degrade rapidly in the field.
Tandem PV said it plans to obtain independent industry-standard validations of the durability and efficiency of its perovskites during 2024. The company said plans are underway for a first manufacturing facility as research and development efforts advance.
“Thanks to historic funding and actions from the president’s clean energy agenda, we’re able to deploy more solar power – the cheapest form of energy – to millions more Americans with panels stamped ‘made in the USA.’,” said Jennifer M. Granholm, US Secretary of Energy.
Tandem PV, founded in 2016 in Silicon Valley, has raised a total of $33 million in venture capital and government funds including from the DoE, the National Science Foundation and the California Energy Commission.
Tandem PV was selected for the $4.7 million award as part of SETO’s Advancing U.S. Thin-Film Solar Photovoltaics Funding Program.
Image: Tandem PV
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