TORONTO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--QD Solar Inc., a Toronto-based venture in clean energy developing tandem solar technologies, announced today 3rd party-validated efficiencies of their single junction perovskite cells among the highest efficiencies ever reported for this material class. The 24% efficiency for spin-coated perovskites cells and the 23.2% efficiency for slot-die coated, manufacturing-ready, perovskite cells have been officially confirmed by MKS Instruments/Newport in Utah, USA.
“The silicon-dominated solar industry is suffering from eroding single digit profit margins for the past decade due to fierce worldwide competition. This industry has also suffered from stagnated solar efficiencies, due to fundamental limitations related to the inherit physics of silicon. This industry demands the next generation of bankable solar materials. Deploying low-cost perovskite-based solar will allow our customers, the solar panel manufacturers, to charge premium prices on high-efficiency panels and double their profit margins. That’s huge for the solar industry,” says Dan Shea, CEO of QD Solar and a veteran in the semiconductor industry.
The race for perovskite photovoltaic materials started with efficiencies around 12% in 2012, measured on small lab scale solar devices. Since then, companies and research groups around the world, including that of Prof. Ted Sargent, a co-founder and Scientific advisor of QD Solar, have made drastic improvements culminating in 25+% efficiencies. However, in contrast to other reports on perovskites, QD Solar’s 23.2% efficiency was developed for industrial high-throughput manufacturing based on slot-die coating.
“Our focus on large scale coating is paying off. These certified numbers demonstrate that QD Solar designed a manufacturing process that not only yields high efficiencies for small lab-sized samples but more importantly has been transferred successfully onto coating equipment used for large scale roll-to-roll production,” says Dr. Sjoerd Hoogland, co-founder and CTO. Dr. Hoogland directs the research and development efforts at QD Solar. To him, understanding the fundamentals of perovskites on a nanoscale basis is key for QD Solar to move these advanced materials out of the lab and into an industry that demands high efficiency, long-term stability, and bankability. “Operating in close proximity to the laboratories at the University of Toronto has been invaluable for our success towards commercializing cutting-edge technology. This statement also holds true for the development of various perovskite tandem configurations that include perovskites, silicon, and quantum dots.”
Dr. Armin Fischer, COO of QD Solar who is leading the current fundraising effort together with Dan Shea, noted that “Almost all venture capital groups that we have talked to, are reluctant to invest in a science project but instead in demonstrated scalability that allows for mass manufacturing. Today’s announcement is a big step forward showing that our technology is ready to take the next important step on our product road map. QD Solar’s solar sheets are targeted to be drop-in compatible with standard panels, low-cost, lightweight, flexible, with industry-leading power density.”
About QD Solar Inc.
QD Solar Inc. is a start-up out of Toronto, Canada, commercializing IP-protected world-leading cutting-edge photovoltaic research out of the University of Toronto. The team combines highly efficient perovskites with other solar materials in a tandem configuration to take solar beyond efficiencies achievable using standard silicon technology. As part of Canada’s effort towards a zero-carbon, zero-waste economy, QD Solar was awarded $5.3 Million in non-dilutive funding by SDTC, Canada’s largest federal cleantech fund. For more information please visit: http://www.qdsolarinc.com
