Oxford PV Raises Additional £8.1m In Equity Funding For Perovskite Commercialization
Oxford Photovoltaics, a leading pioneer in perovskite solar technology, has attracted an additional £8.1 million in equity funding, essentially doubling the amount of Series C investment funding, and has announced a Joint Development Agreement with “a major solar panel manufacturer.”
A large amount of this new funding comes from three new “strategic investors,” including Statoil ASA and Legal & General Capital, as well as a tech-focused, “innovative family fund investor.” According to Oxford Photovoltaics, these investors recognize the potential of the company’s thin-film perovskite technology to transform the solar market, and each investor will “add strength and opportunity to the technology” on its journey to market.
“The company has made tremendous progress over the last year and this has been recognised by being able to attract investors of such high calibre and scale. We are delighted to be working with each of them and together we will bring our perovskite technology to market as quickly as possible. In conjunction with our industry Joint Development partner, our perovskite technology now has a clear path and timetable to commercialisation and the formidable support of global market leaders to enable that to happen.” – Frank Averdung, CEO of Oxford PV
This additional funding is expected to help boost and scale up the company’s perovskite technology toward full commercialization and support next-gen research on the product.
“Statoil has been an innovator in the energy sector for many decades, from deep sea oil recovery to offshore wind project development. Statoil is supplementing its’ oil and gas portfolio with profitable renewable energy, and in addition to our significant portfolio within offshore wind, we are exploring opportunities within new growth areas, such as solar. The investment in Oxford PV is our first investment within solar technology, and we see it as a great opportunity to be part of a technology development that has the potential to impact the next generation of solar cells.” – Gareth Burns, managing director of Statoil Energy Ventures
Why is perovskite solar such a big deal? Basically, this solar technology, which is based on the crystalline structure of the naturally occurring mineral of the same name, can take advantage of materials that can cheaply and easily be synthesized in the lab, and can significantly boost the efficiency of silicon solar cells – to the tune of an additional 20% or more. So while it might be some time before we see a full roll-out of perovskite solar technology to the market, once the production can be scaled up and commercialized, this low-cost and efficient addition to the clean energy quiver could make a huge difference in the wider adoption of renewables.
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