Contact Information: Contact Name: Dr. Claudio Marinelli E-mail: claudio.marinelli@cambridgephoton.com Website: www.cambridgephoton.com
Funding required: £6.5 million
Cambridge Photon Technology (CPT) is creating advanced materials that will significantly raise the power of standard photovoltaic (PV) modules. CPT’s approach solves a pressing problem for the solar PV industry by increasing performance without requiring new module designs or production processes, allowing manufacturers to gain a competitive advantage and raise their margins. The Problem CPT’s technology solves the problem of how to keep improving solar PV performance and costs within the constraints of the industry today. Silicon, the dominant PV material worldwide, has been steadily increasing in efficiency and decreasing in cost for many years. The trouble is that it is now nearing the practical limits of efficiency imposed by its fundamental physical characteristics. Silicon module manufacturers, and their long-established supply chains, need new solutions if they are to continue raising efficiency: both to increase the value of their products relative to those of their competitors, and to keep solar PV competitive with a rising number of other clean and cost-effective power generation technologies. These manufacturers cannot, however, simply abandon their existing product lines. They have invested many billions and built-up decades of expertise in silicon cell and module production and established whole upstream and downstream industries upon highly standardized module designs. Solar PV owners and installers demand long warranties for reliable performance: they will not take the risk of adopting a fundamentally newmodule type or photovoltaic material. Manufacturers must therefore find enhancing technologies that work with, rather than replace, silicon.
The Solution CPT’s solution to this problem is known as Photon Multiplication (PM). High-energy photons of UV, blue and green light entering a module that contains PM materials (PMM) are each split into two infra-red photons, which can be converted more efficiently into electrical current by silicon solar cells. This increase in photon flux reaching the silicon can raise the current generated by the module by as much as 15%. A vital feature of PMM is that they integrate seamlessly with existing PV module designs, being incorporated within the encapsulant film of the module. Unlike other potential solutions, this provides a large performance improvement, and consequent higher selling price and margin, with no need to re-design module structures or invest in new cell manufacturing processes. PMM are therefore highly attractive to CPT’s risk-averse customers (major encapsulant suppliers and module manufacturers). The breakthrough science behind PM, originally developed at the University of Cambridge, is protected by a strong patent portfolio. Since the founding of the company, CPT has made great strides in materials research and development while forming important industrial partnerships. The funds raised now will speed the company’s product development and allow it to work closely with customers and suppliers in preparation for market entry.
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