We integrate the sun into our everyday lives
Soltech is a complete provider that offers, develops, sells, installs and optimizes solar energy solutions for your needs.
Solar energy has enormous potential, not least for society to cope with the challenge of climate change. But the technology to tame the sun’s energy must become available to many, many more people. It puts a high demand on those of us in the industry to develop smarter, more efficient and more affordable solar cell solutions.
Soltech Energy
Soltech is a MA and development group with companies in the solar, roofing, electrical engineering and facade industries. Our strategy is to grow as a group by attracting the most enterprising business builders and the best businesses in our industries. Our common strength is to meet our customers needs throughout the value chain for solar energy solutions. Together with customers and investors, we have set our sights on the future in renewable energy.
We will show the way to your solar solution
Feel confident that Soltech’s expert advisers and skilled installers will help you find the solar energy solution that best meets your conditions. As a complete provider, we also make sure to optimize and control your solar solution – all in order to maximize the value of your investment over time.
Acquisitions and co-operations
Our business group brings together businesses with complementary skills and experience. Our common strength is to be able to meet the needs throughout the value chain: from innovation, development, and production of solar technology to sales, installation, and optimization. We have our aim set on the future to deliver renewable energy in a modern fashion to all customers and by doing so taking an active part in developing tomorrow’s sustainable society.
The silicon limits of solar cells
Photovoltaic cells convert photons in sunlight into electricity. But not all photons are the same. They have different amounts of energy and correspond to different wavelengths in the solar spectrum. Cells made of perovskites, which refer to various materials with crystal structures resembling that of the mineral, have a higher absorption coefficient, meaning they can grab a wider range of photon energies over the sunlight spectrum to deliver more energy. While standard commercial silicon cells have efficiencies of about 21%, laboratory perovskite cells have efficiencies of up to 25.7% for those based on perovskite alone, and as much as 31.25% for those that are combined with silicon in a so-called tandem cell. Meanwhile, even as silicon efficiencies have increased, single-junction cells face a theoretical maximum efficiency barrier of 29%, known as the Shockley-Queisser limit; their practical limit is as low as 24%.
Furthermore, perovskite cells can be more sustainable to produce than silicon. Intense heat and large amounts of energy are needed to remove impurities from silicon, and that produces a lot of carbon emissions. It also has to be relatively thick to work. Perovskite cells are very thin — less than 1 micrometer — and can be painted or sprayed on surfaces, making them relatively cheap to produce. A 2020 Stanford University analysis of an experimental production method estimated that perovskite modules could be made for only 25 cents per square foot, compared to about 5000.50 for the silicon equivalent.
Industries will set up production lines in factories for commercialization of their solar cells before 2025, says Toin University of Yokohama engineering professor Tsutomu Miyasaka, who reported the creation of the first perovskite solar cell in 2009. Not only for use in outdoor solar panels but also indoor IoT power devices, which will be a big market for perovskite photovoltaic devices because they can work even under weak illumination.
Backing next-generation climate technology
Companies around the world are starting to commercialize perovskite panels. CubicPV, based in Massachusetts and Texas, has been developing tandem modules since 2019, and its backers include Bill Gates’ Breakthrough Energy Ventures. The company says its modules are formed of a bottom silicon layer and a top perovskite layer and their efficiency will reach 30%. Their advantage, according to CEO Frank van Mierlo, is the company’s perovskite chemistry and its low-cost manufacturing method for the silicon layer that makes the tandem approach economical.
Last month, the Department of Energy announced that CubicPV will be the lead industry participant in a new Massachusetts Institute of Technology research center that will harness automation and AI to optimize the production of tandem panels. Meanwhile, CubicPV is set to decide on the location of a new 10GW silicon wafer plant in the U.S., a move it says will speed tandem development.
Tandem extracts more power from the sun, making every solar installation more powerful and accelerating the world’s ability to curb the worst impacts of climate change, said Van Mierlo. We believe that in the next decade, the entire industry will switch to tandem.
In Europe, Oxford PV is also planning to start making tandem modules. A spinoff from Oxford University, it claims a 28% efficiency for tandems and says it’s developing a multi-layered cell with 37% efficiency. The company is building a solar cell factory in Brandenburg, Germany, but it has been delayed by the coronavirus pandemic and supply-chain snags. Still, the startup, founded in 2010 and backed by Norwegian energy company Equinor, Chinese wind turbine maker Goldwind and the European Investment Bank, is hopeful it can start shipments this year pending regulatory certification. The technology would initially be priced higher than conventional silicon cells because tandem offers higher energy density but the company says the economics are favorable over the full lifetime of usage.
Many solar upstarts over the years have attempted to break the market share of China and conventional silicon panels, such as the notoriously now bankrupt Solyndra, which used copper indium gallium selenide. First Solar‘s cadmium telluride thin film approach survived a decade-long solar shakeout because of its balance between low-cost relative to crystalline silicon and efficiency. But it now sees tandem cells as a key to the solar industry’s future, too.
Perovskite is a disruptive material without disrupting the business model — the entrenched capacity to manufacture based on silicon, says Oxford PV CTO Chris Case. Our product will be better at producing lower-cost energy than any competing solar technology.
The Brandenburg, Germany manufacturing plant of Oxford PV, a spinoff of Oxford University, that claims a 28% efficiency for its tandem solar cells and says it’s developing a multi-layered cell with 37% efficiency.
Caelux, a California Institute of Technology spinoff, is also focused on commercializing tandem cells. Backed by VC Vinod Khosla and Indian energy, telecom and retail conglomerate Reliance Industries, Caelux wants to work with existing silicon module companies by adding a layer of perovskite glass to conventional modules to increase efficiency by 30% or more.
Questions about performance outside the lab
Perovskites face challenges in terms of cost, durability and environmental impact before it can put a dent in the market. One of the best-performing versions is lead halide perovskites, but researchers are trying to formulate other compositions to avoid lead toxicity.
Martin Green, a solar cell researcher at the University of New South Wales in Australia, believes silicon-based tandem cells will be the next big step forward in solar technology. But he cautions that they are not known to work well enough outside the lab. Perovskite materials can degrade when exposed to moisture, a problem with which researchers have claimed some success.
The big question is whether perovskite/silicon tandem cells will ever have the stability required to be commercially viable, said Green, who heads the Australian Centre for Advanced Photovoltaics. Although progress has been made since the first perovskite cells were reported, the only published field data for such tandem cells with competitive efficiency suggest they would only survive a few months outdoors even when carefully encapsulated.
In a recent field trial, tandem cells were tested for over a year in Saudi Arabia and were found to retain more than 80% of an initial 21.6% conversion efficiency. For its part, Oxford PV says its solar cells are designed to meet the standard 25- to 30-year lifetime expectancy when assembled into standard photovoltaic modules. It says its demonstration tandem modules passed key industry accelerated stress tests to predict solar module lifetimes.
Japan’s on-building perovskite experiments
In Japan, large, flat expanses of land that can host mega-solar projects are hard to come by due to the archipelago’s mountainous terrain. That’s one reason companies are developing thin, versatile perovskite panels for use on walls and other parts of buildings. Earlier this year, Sekisui Chemical and NTT Data installed perovskite cells on the exterior of buildings in Tokyo and Osaka to test their performance over a year. Electronics maker Panasonic, meanwhile, created an inkjet printer that can turn out thin-film perovskite cells in various sizes, shapes and opacities, meaning they can be used in regular glass installed on Windows, walls, balconies and other surfaces.
Onsite power generation and consumption will be very beneficial for society, says Yukihiro Kaneko, general manager at Panasonic’s Applied Materials Technology Center. For Japan to achieve its decarbonization goal, you would need to build 1,300 ballpark-sized mega-solar projects every year. That’s why we think building solar into Windows and walls is best.
Exhibited at CES 2023, Panasonic’s 30cm-square perovskite-only cell has an efficiency of 17.9%, the highest in the world, according to a ranking from the U.S. National Renewable Energy Laboratory. The manufacturer stands to get a boost from regulations such as a recently announced requirement that all new housing projects in Tokyo have solar panels starting in 2025. Panasonic says it aims to commercialize its perovskite cells in the next five years.
Perovskite cell inventor Miyasaka believes perovskite-based power generation will account for more than half of the solar cell market in 2030, not by replacing silicon but through new applications such as building walls and Windows.
The Rapid progress in power conversion efficiency was a surprising and truly unexpected result for me, said Miyasaka. In short, this will be a big contribution to realizing a self-sufficient sustainable society.
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General Public Ownership
With a 39% ownership, the general public, mostly comprising of individual investors, have some degree of sway over Energy Solar Tech. While this group can’t necessarily call the shots, it can certainly have a real influence on how the company is run.
We can see that Private Companies own 10%, of the shares on issue. Private companies may be related parties. Sometimes insiders have an interest in a public company through a holding in a private company, rather than in their own capacity as an individual. While it’s hard to draw any broad stroke conclusions, it is worth noting as an area for further research.
Next Steps:
I find it very interesting to look at who exactly owns a company. But to truly gain insight, we need to consider other information, too. For instance, we’ve identified 3 warning signs for Energy Solar Tech (2 can’t be ignored) that you should be aware of.
If you would prefer check out another company.- one with potentially superior financials.- then do not miss this free list of interesting companies, backed by strong financial data.
NB: Figures in this article are calculated using data from the last twelve months, which refer to the 12-month period ending on the last date of the month the financial statement is dated. This may not be consistent with full year annual report figures.
Valuation is complex, but we’re helping make it simple.
Find out whether Energy Solar Tech is potentially over or undervalued by checking out our comprehensive analysis, which includes fair value estimates, risks and warnings, dividends, insider transactions and financial health.
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This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned.
Energy Solar Tech
Energy Solar Tech, S.A. primarily provides energy outsourcing services for solar plants in Spain.
The rise of “solarpunk” living
According to Statista data shared in the report, the photovoltaic solar panel market is expected to nearly triple—from 87.2 billion to 251.4 billion—between 2019 and 2030. A few factors are at play here, WGSN says. For one, the passing of the Inflation Reduction Act last year, which included a 30% solar tax credit, is likely to propel a more widespread adoption of solar tech, particularly alongside the growing accessibility of solar products in the marketplace. (IKEA’s recent introduction of Home Solar, for instance, is making easy-to-install photovoltaic panels more readily available to California consumers.)
What’s more, solar neighborhoods are popping up throughout the Global South, from Puerto Rico to India. Though these regions are prone to extreme heat, they also happen to receive the highest amount of sunny days per year, making sunlight a promising natural resource. Solar enclaves are also emerging in America: Babcock Ranch, an 18,000-acre planned community in Florida that will eventually host 50,000 residents, could prove to be a game changer.
Babcock Ranch, Florida, is a planned community that, when complete, will host 50,000 residents.
Jeff Greenberg/Getty Images
With developments like these underway, perhaps it shouldn’t be surprising that WGSN notes the rise of “solarpunk,” a sci-fi aesthetic subgenre that has developed extensions into real-world, practical applications. Unlike some doom-and-gloom eco movements, solarpunk is optimistic about the potential for technology and nature to live in harmony. (As its “punk” suffix suggests, DIY is a large part of the ideology.) Online, the growth of the movement is visible in the rise of communities like r/solarpunk on Reddit, as well as the #solarpunk hashtag on TikTok, which has amassed more than 54 million views.
Solar products at all scales
WGSN notes that, while better building materials like solar cell glass bricks (such as those produced by UK manufacturer Build Solar) are making architectural surfaces more hardworking, innovations in energy retention are set to evolve homes even further. Smart energy storage systems, for instance, have the potential to make homes self-sufficient, turning consumers of energy into what the forecasting agency calls “prosumers,” or producers of energy. WGSN also identifies opportunities for automotive companies in the home space, as electric car fleets grow by the year. Korean car giant Hyundai, for one, recently launched Home, a marketplace that links much of its EV lineup with energy management suppliers; auto brand Genesis has also introduced its own closed-loop home energy system. Essentially, our homes can double as powerful charging stations for cars, allowing them to travel farther on single power-ups.
Inside the home, new FFE solutions are emerging, like wireless solar-harvesting lights and furnishings. Nigerian electronics company QuadLoop upcycles e-waste to produce ÌDùnnú, a self-powering solar lamp that also features a charging port for mobile phones. There are also examples of “solar picnic tables” that collect sun power and offer shade through a ray-soaking canopy. With high load–bearing solar cell driveway pavers and folding solar camping tables now on the market, the carbon-negative economy is looking more attainable than ever.
As revealed by this report, manufacturers around the world are developing dynamic ways in which to utilize this abundant natural resource, imbuing products with new levels of durability, longevity, modularity, and usability. Long gone are the days of ineffective and hard-to-replace photovoltaic roof panels.
The hurdles to solar adoption
However, there are still roadblocks to widely implementing this suite of solutions, the WGSN report notes. “One thing holding solar back at the moment is design,” says Matt Zara, a trend forecaster and editor at WGSN’s consumer technology division. “Prioritizing aesthetics will increase adoption.” Making solar tech more aesthetically palatable—if not invisible—is likely to help move the needle. “We’re starting to see building materials with solar technology embedded,” he says. “This will create more opportunities to generate power and let people integrate the technology in ways that won’t disrupt their aesthetics.”
Even with supply slowly outpacing demand, solar adoption remains cost prohibitive in certain cases. “There are understandable concerns in the midst of a cost of living crisis,” Zara says. “While I appreciate the difficulty of this at the moment, solar is a solution that requires us to think long-term.” Though an initial investment may be necessary, Zara points out that homeowners will save money in the long run. “It will also reduce their reliance on the grid, which can protect against future price hikes and climate disruption,” he adds.
Zara cites the Perovskite solar cell as one paradigm-shifting solution. The low-cost material can be used to produce thin-film solar cells that are durable, lightweight, flexible, and scalable across the industry. Researchers at Swansea University in Wales have developed a way of screen printing Perovskite cells onto steel roofing, showing one potential application of the product. One of the last challenges, perhaps, is finding ways in which renters, not just homeowners, can have a say in the energy they use. For them, implementing self-sufficient FFE products—like those highlighted above—is a first step in taking control of their own consumption.