GCL Perovskite Bags B+ Round of Financing Worth $72M

GCL Perovskite, a perovskite solar module developer under GCL Technology Holdings Limited, a leading Chinese photovoltaic material manufacturer, announced on December 14 its securing of 500 million yuan ($72 million) in a B+ round of financing.

This round of financing was jointly led by Temasek, Sequoia Capital China and IDG Capital, followed by Longwater Investment and other institutions, while GCL Technology, the major shareholder, continued to increase its funding. The raised capital will be used to improve the process and equipment development of GCL Perovskite’s 100MW large perovskite assembly production line.

GCL Perovskite, formerly known as Xiamen Weihua Solar Co., Ltd., was merged by GCL Technology in 2016. In 2020, the company completed an A round of financing worth over 100 million yuan, then secured a B round of financing worth several hundred million yuan in May this year.

SEE ALSO: Chinese EV Battery Maker REPT to Go Public Overseas

In September 2021, GCL Perovskite built the world’s first production line of 100 MW perovskite components with a component size of 1m × 2m. It stated that the production line is in the stage of process development and equipment transformation, and the efficiency of production has been steadily improved. It is expected to exceed 16% by the end of this year and achieve a conversion efficiency of over 18% by the end of 2023, which is expected to become the first 100 MW production line in the world to achieve mass production.

The production efficiency of 18% is of great significance to the perovskite industry. The actual efficiency of 1m × 2m crystalline silicon modules in the market is about 20%. Due to the different circuit structure from crystalline silicon modules, the power generation of perovskite modules with the same efficiency is 5% higher than that of crystalline silicon on average. If GCL Perovskite’s 100MW production line can achieve a mass production rate of 18% for large-size components, given the lower manufacturing cost of perovskite components, the company’s perovskite components can have considerable competitive advantages in the photovoltaic market.

In terms of stability, most advanced laboratories have been able to realize continuous operation of perovskite components for at least 1,000 hours without attenuation. The service life of products of GCL Perovskite’s 100MW production line is expected to exceed 25 years. On June 7 this year, the 1m × 2m perovskite components produced by the company successfully passed a hail test, and the tolerance of large-area components under severe weather was effectively verified.

According to a report by Jiemian News, after the 100 MW production capacity of GCL Perovskite meets design requirements, a 1 GW production line will be built. The company will then gradually explore 5-10 GW lines.