US Perovskite Startup Lands Funds For Maiden Fab

• Tandem PV has raised $6 million in its latest funding round, taking its total funding to $27 million 
• SunPower's former President and CEO Tom Werner is among the investors in the latest round 
• This funding will enable Tandem PV to accelerate its efforts towards building its 1st perovskite fab 

Silicon Valley, US-based perovskite solar technology startup Tandem PV is inching closer to building its 1st manufacturing facility as it raised $6 million from a host of existing and new investors. It counts to have raised a total of $27 million in venture capital and government support so far.  

Previously, Tandem PV raised $6 million for its planned US fab in March 2023 with an unidentified international solar manufacturer and a US utility company among investors (see Tandem PV Raises $6 Million For US Pilot Fab). 

Led by the company's existing investor early-stage venture capital firm Planetary Technologies, the latest round also had individual investors from the corporate sector including former President and CEO of SunPower Corporation Tom Werner. Uncorrelated Ventures also contributed to the funding round. 

"The new investments validate that leadership position in the global perovskite market and will help us bring in customer agreements to begin building our first plant," said Tandem PV CEO Scott Wharton. 

Tandem PV was founded by Colin Bailie and Chris Eberspacher in 2016 as part of the US Department of Energy's exclusive Cyclotron Road accelerator. As the name suggests, Tandem PV's technology comprises conventional silicon solar cells stacked with metal halide thin-film perovskite materials to produce tandem perovskite solar panels with 26% efficiency. 

It claims to have demonstrated the equivalent of decades of projected durability in the lab and now aims to obtain independent, industry-standard validation of efficiency and durability that it expects to rise further, in 2024. 

ITRPV forecasts tandem solar modules to achieve over 26% efficiency after 2025, as shared by its Steering Committee Chair Markus Fischer during TaiyangNews High Efficiency Solar Technologies Conference in December 2023 (see TOPCon Part II: High Efficiency Solar Technologies Conference Day 3).