Two teams are moving on in the American-Made Perovskite Startup Prize, which is designed to accelerate the growth of the U.S. perovskite industry and support the rapid development of solar cells and modules that use perovskite materials. These teams will enter the Liftoff Contest, with a $200,000 cash prize in hand. An additional two teams won the Power Up Prize, a new $40,000 award to continue refining their technology or business plan to continue to compete in the Countdown Contest. Awards have been given to four teams who submitted proposals for the most recent Countdown Contest of the Perovskite Startup Prize.
The teams moving on as finalists—and joining Beyond Silicon as Liftoff competitors—are as follows:
Verde Technologies Inc.’s “Flexible Solar ‘The roll-on, roll-up solar panel’”: Verde Technologies is a team from the University of Vermont. They are working to demonstrate a high-performing single-junction perovskite device, with the goal of developing a flexible all-perovskite tandem module for the residential solar market.
SoFab Inks LLC’s “SoFab Functionalized Inks”: SoFab Inks is a team from the University of Louisville. They are developing high-performance inks to be used in perovskite devices.
During the Liftoff Contest, finalists will work towards demonstrating substantial progress and validation of their technology, as well as a developing a diverse network of mentors and partners to support their business and technology development.
The Power Up Prize is evaluated under the same criteria as the Countdown Contest and is awarded to teams that present a compelling innovation that needs further refinement. Power Up Prize winners are encouraged to continue to iterate on their technology and continue competing in the Countdown Prize. Power Up Prize winners are as follows:
MujiElectric LLC’s “Holistically Designed Perovskite-Based Solar Cells”: MujiElectric is a team working closely with the University of Washington and licensing technology from the National Renewable Energy Laboratory. Their innovation aims to produce and commercialize state-of-the-art high-efficiency perovskite solar cells.
Perotech-Energy LLC “Perovskite Bifacial PV”: Perotech-Energy is a team from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. They aim to reduce LCOE by developing perovskite bifacial modules using high-throughput, low-cost solution process with high stability and energy yield.
Power Up Prize recipients are encouraged to use their funds to iterate on their technology and/or business plan in preparation for future Perovskite Startup Prize submissions.
