Perovskite solar company Tandem PV raises US$6m to build Californian manufacturing facility

US perovskite company Tandem PV has closed on the first half of a US$12 million Series A raise after raising US$6 million for building a pilot manufacturing facility in its headquarters of San Jose, California.
US-focused Tandem PV will use this investment to manufacture its first commercial grade tandem solar panels intended to equip customers with more efficient and affordable solar energy.
The company specialises in ‘ultra-high-efficiency’ tandem metal-halide perovskite solar panels. It changes 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 PhD 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 commercialise perovskite and silicon tandem solar panels for homes across the United States and worldwide,” said Eberspacher.
The round was led by Bioeconomy Capital, an early-stage venture capital firm, through its new Planetary Technologies fund, with participation from an international solar manufacturer and a US utility company, Tandem said in a media release.
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.
In March, researchers at the Polytechnic University of Milan said the chemical process of halogen bonding can help improve the performance of perovskite-based solar cells, enabling them to achieve high levels of efficiency and high stability.
And, 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 towards commercial viability after it withstood 1,000 hours of harsh conditions and maintained a 95% efficiency.