1366 Technologies, a photovoltaics start-up company based in Massachusetts, won four million dollars in federal funding from the the U.S. Department of Energy’s Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E).

The first ARPA-E solicitation was extremely competitive with over 3,600 applications from across the country.  Evaluations were based on the potential for high impact on ARPA-E’s goals and scientific and technical merit. 1366 Technologies was the only photovoltaics (PV) company selected to receive funding. In particular, 1366 Technologies was selected for their Direct Wafer technology that forms high-efficiency ‘monocrystalline-equivalent’ silicon wafers directly from molten silicon, with the potential to slash the cost of PV installations by half.

“For over 35 years, silicon PV has been hobbled by high costs and difficulties in scaling due to expensive wafering. Our Direct Wafer technology solves the wafering problem with a breakthrough manufacturing solution that is compatible with today’s supply chain,” said Frank van Mierlo, co-founder and president of 1366 Technologies. “This funding will allow us to accelerate the development and scaling of Direct Wafer, which will have strong implications for the competitiveness of the U.S. PV industry and provide a basis for future economic growth and jobs”.

1366 Technologies also recently unveiled the ground breaking Self-Aligned Cell (SAC) architecture, with innovative cell texturing and metallization design to deliver simpler, more commercially-viable solutions for multi-crystalline cell manufacturers striving to achieve 18 percent cell efficiency.

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