Oxford Photovoltaics Receives 15 Million Euros for Perovskite Solar Cell Production

Oxford Photovoltaics Germany has received financing of 15 million euros from the European Investment Bank (EIB). As the Berlin-based company announced, it wants to use the money to bring its perovskite silicon solar cell from the laboratory onto the market. Oxford Photovoltaics Germany is a subsidiary of Oxford Photovoltaics Ltd., a provider of perovskite solar cells and a spin-off from the University of Oxford.

Perovskite technology is likely to significantly change the economic viability of silicon solar cells in the future, says Frank Averdung, CEO of Oxford Photovoltaics.

The company has already made significant progress in development: “At our location in Brandenburg, we have already started using the material perovskite on an industrial scale for solar cells with a tandem structure made of silicon and perovskite,” says Averdung. Together with a large module manufacturer, the new technology is now to be transferred to industrial production. Production is scheduled to start in 2019, according to pv magazine ‘s request.

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Oxford Photovoltaics is one of the companies that uses perovskites with their special crystalline structure

In recent years, the efficiency of cells based on this technology has been increased rapidly in the laboratory. If you combine perovskites with crystalline silicon, you get tandem cells. Theoretically, they can achieve higher efficiencies than the silicon cells currently in use. By using perovskite technology combined with traditional silicon cells in the tandem cells, silicon solar cell manufacturers could increase efficiency by at least 20 percent, the company said.

The loan accessed by Oxford Photovoltaics is specifically intended to help apply the technology tested in the laboratory in a demonstration plant. Adapted accordingly, this could then be used for the industrial production of wafers.

For the first time in Germany, the EIB is supporting a project as part of the “InnovFin – EU Funds for Innovations” initiative under the product “InnovFin – Demonstration Projects”. “We help innovative companies to achieve concrete results and strengthen climate protection,” said EIB Vice President Ambroise Fayolle, who is responsible for financing in Germany.

The EU bank’s new financing instrument is intended to overcome the financing gap for innovative technologies so that they can demonstration and thus the commercial stage. The initiative is financially supported by the European Union under Horizon 2020.

At the end of 2016, Oxford Photovoltaics announced that it had acquired a former thin-film production facility from Bosch Solar in Brandenburg , in which it plans to invest further in the future.

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(Featured image by Brun-nO via Pixabay)

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First published in pv magazine. A third-party contributor translated and adapted the articles from the originals. In case of discrepancy, the originals will prevail.

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