EIT European Institute of Innovation and Technol : InnoEnergy invests €2 million in NexWafe’s solar breakthrough

EIT InnoEnergy has committed a €2 million investment in NexWafe, a developer of highly efficient solar wafer production technology called EpiWafer. The companies have also joined forces to commercialise NexWafe's breakthrough technology.

EpiWafers can save up to 50 per cent in the costs of manufacturing PV wafers. By cutting out several energy intensive and costly development stages as well as saving on material, the technology enables NexWafe to go straight from raw material to wafer form.

The project - Epicomm - will support NexWafe in developing its German-based pilot line of solar wafers, characterising cells and modules built out of those wafers, and planning for mass-scale production.

' It's an extremely promising investment' says Mikel Lasa, EIT InnoEnergy Iberia CEO. 'Besides the strong business case, this project is also key to strengthen EU renewable energy leadership, one of the pillars of the Energy Union. This is also an excellent example of how R&D moves towards the market. We definitely want to see more of these in our coming investment rounds.'

Stefan Reber, NexWafe CEO, says: 'EIT InnoEnergy is a well-respected force in sustainable energy and this recognition will springboard our future growth. By joining forces we accelerate the commercialisation of our disruptive EpiWafer technology.'

Epicomm is being delivered in partnership with the renowned research organisations Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy and ISC Konstanz , as well as industry partners Ecosolifer and Fill Factory .

Lasa adds: 'The calibre of the Epicomm project partners shows the huge potential of this start-up. EIT InnoEnergy is absolutely thrilled to be a part of this team, as we support this unique company on its way to commercialisation.'

About NexWafe

NexWafe GmbH, headquartered in Freiburg, Germany, will supply to the solar cell producers high quality, reliable monocrystalline wafers fully compatible with common cell and module fabrication processes at a considerable lower cost of conventionally produced silicon wafers.

In the EpiWafer technology, a thick crystalline silicon layer is epitaxially deposited and subsequently detached after growth to produce a freestanding wafer of standard thickness. The EpiWafer is a direct substitute for conventional n- or p-type mono-crystalline silicon wafers.

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