China solar cell manufacturer raises $72m

Longwater Investment participated. Hong Kong-listed GCL Tech, which incubated GCL Photoelectric in 2019, re-upped.

GCL Photoelectric uses perovskite as the primary material for its solar cells rather than silicon. Various industry studies have suggested the use of perovskite results in better energy efficiency than silicon.

Perovskite solar cells can be manufactured using simple techniques, like printing, with a fraction of the cost, while reaching a satisfactory sunlight-to-electronical-power conversion efficiency. However, the solution is still on the early stage of industrialisation. Scaling is expected to bring down the cost.

The fresh funding will be used to advance the company's 100-megawatt perovskite module production line, said to be the first of its kind. The operation is expected to reach a conversion rate of 16% by the end of this year and 18% by the end of 2023.

An 18% conversion rate is considered the threshold at which perovskite solar cells can compete with silicon, which has a conversion rate of 20% on average. Due to differences in their circuit structure, perovskite solar cells are said to generate 5% more power than silicon cells when their conversation rates are the same.

The global perovskite solar cell market is estimated to be growing 31% a year and set to be worth USD 7.2bn by 2030.

Lighthouse Capital was the exclusive financial advisor for the GCL Photoelectric investment.

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