The sun is shining a bit brighter – well, make that more efficiently – these days at Semprius.
Semprius makes what it says are the most highest efficiency mass-produced solar modules. On Monday the Durham-based firm announced a new “stacked” solar cell that shows the promise of delivering record efficiency for conversion of sunlight to energy.
The firm has developed a way to make more efficient solar cells. Semprius’ high concentration photovoltaic technology makes what the company says are the world’s smallest solar cells – about the size of a pencil point. Decreasing the size and increasing the efficiency of solar cells drives down the manufacturing costs of solar modules.
Meanwhile, Semprius has raised another $1.1 million in funding, according to an SEC filing.
The new solar cell is described as a “four-junction, four-terminal stacked” solar cell that delivers an efficiency of up to 43.9 percent in converting sunlight to electricity. And Semprius foresees the new cells as topping 50 percent “in the near future.”
Semprius recently set efficiency records at just under 36 percent.
Semprius worked with University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Professor John Rogers on the project. Solar Junction, a solar cell manufacturer and a Semprius partner, also was involved.
The advance is to be reported this week in Nature Materials, a journal.
“By using four junctions, the stacked cell is able to capture light across a broader portion of the solar spectrum and therefore achieve efficiencies much higher than conventional silicon and thin-film single-junction solar cells. Initial trials yielded solar cells with measured efficiencies up to 43.9 percent,” Semprius reported. “This process is capable of achieving solar cell efficiencies greater than 50 percent in the near future.”
A new “interface material” inserted in the stack is key to the improvement, the company said.
“This achievement is notable because it establishes a straight-forward path to significant future increases in conversion efficiency,” said Dan Friedman, a manager with the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, in a statement released by Semprius. “Increasing efficiency is critical to reducing the cost of solar energy because it helps drive down not only module costs, but also many other costs, including the cost of land, labor and wiring.”
Semprius, which opened its own manufacturing plant in 2012, expects to capitalize on the advance.
Noted Scott Burroughs, vice president of Technology at Semprius: “Because the process we used is fully compatible with our current production processes, we believe this demonstration can be easily transferred to manufacturing.”
Semprius, which is venture capital backed and is privately held, now haws customers in eight countries and six states in the U.S.
In 2013, Semprius was named to MIT’s list of 50 disruptive companies. In 2012, MIT named Semprius as one of 10 disruptive technologies.
The latest funding is a mix of debt and options.
