European impact investor, Wermuth Asset Management, has completed its second round of funding under the Green Gateway Fund 2 (GGF2) portfolio, doubling its investment in NexWafe.
Until recently silicon solar wafers have been the costliest single components of a solar module, accounting for around 40 per cent of the total product cost. But new wafer technology company, NexWafe, has stepped in as an industry disruptor with the development of a drop-in replacement for wafers specifically designed for future high efficiency solar cells with a low energy and material consumption during production that significantly brings down the costs.
“The historic price reduction in solar modules made solar electricity already cost competitive in many places in the world. Our EpiWafer production process has the ability to drive a further disruptive cost cut. We developed the unique technology to shape future’s energy supply,” says Dr Stefan Reber, co-founder and CEO of NexWafe. Using its disruptive kerfless technology, NexWafe produces high efficiency monocrystalline n-type wafers grown directly from chlorosilane. The company’s process and materials eliminate five cost-intensive production steps that are used for conventional wafers. NexWafe’s founder, Stefan Reber, and his team at the Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems (ISE) developed a highly productive reactor to ensure mass production of the EpiWafer product.
“NexWafe’s highly innovative product, and efficient processes, make it a revolutionary breakthrough technology for the solar PV industry, and a no-brainer for investment,” says Dr Claas Helmke, partner at Wermuth Asset Management. “The award-winning company is on the cutting edge of delivering the technological change the market is looking for.”
The additional GGF2 funding concludes last year’s financing round led by Saudi Aramco Energy Ventures. The new capital will be used to commission a pilot line in Freiburg, Germany to produce wafers for customer qualification and to set the groundwork for a mass production plant in Bitterfeld, Germany.
