NexWafe ‘green’ solar wafers closer to commercial production after latest investment
NexWafe GmbH secured €30M to accelerate the construction of its first commercial-scale facility in Bitterfeld, Germany to fabricate the company’s green solar wafers.
“This investment marks the start of NexWafe’s plan to raise substantially larger funds in the second half of 2023,” stated Davor Sutija, CEO of NexWafe. “The funds will be used to break ground on NexWafe’s first commercial facility to speed the renewable energy transition with more efficient, lower cost, green solar wafers for the world’s photovoltaic manufacturers.”
The green comes via NexWafe’s solar wafer manufacturing solution, which simplifies polysilicon production and reduces energy use and production time. This results in drastically lowered production costs for n-type monocrystalline wafers used for the majority of high-performing solar modules.
The company’s novel manufacturing method delivers wafers that are engineered to the requirements of each customer and already achieving parity with commercially available Czochralski (CZ) wafers. Providing an opportunity to optimize the performance a chosen cell design enables solar cell makers to ultimately deliver higher efficiencies.
The funds come from NexWafe’s current group of investors, including Reliance New Energy Limited, Aramco Ventures and ATHOS Venture GmbH, as well as new investors, including the Honorable Malcolm Turnbull AC and Keshik Capital, led by Alex Turnbull. NexWafe anticipates raising additional funding in the second half of this year.
In parallel, NexWafe has agreed to work with Aramco Ventures on a future green solar wafer manufacturing facility in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The collaborative agreement will include participation from the firm’s $1.5 billion Sustainability fund.
NexWafe’s process supports urgent U.S. and European efforts to re-shore domestic solar wafer manufacturing and cell production by increasing supply-chain sourcing diversity and resilience. The NexWafe process also reduces CO2 emissions, resulting in a solar-energy supply chain that is genuinely green.
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