UNSW Research Translation UNSW Research Translation Booklet_V06.1_Linked | Page 56

SUNDRIVE SOLAR

UNSW SPINOUT
The solar PV industry relies heavily on silver for solar cell electrodes. Silver is both expensive and limited in supply( 20 per cent of the world’ s industrial silver consumption is attributed to solar cell manufacturing).
With mainstream PV technology at its limits, the industry is rapidly pursuing next-generation PV technologies to meet increasing energy demands but these require up to three times more silver. This further constrains the expansion potential of solar PV.
SunDrive is developing a copper plating technology to replace silver as the solar cell electrode. Copper is 100 times cheaper per kilogram and a thousand times more abundant. More importantly, SunDrive’ s technology can provide performance boosts unachievable with current silver-based technologies.
> Developed world-first direct copper plating for next-generation solar PV.
> Solar cell efficiency world record( 25.54 %) in September 2021.
> Successful translation of cell technology to early demonstration modules.
> Demonstration of metallisation process on in-house prototype production equipment.
100 INNOVATIONS AND CAPABILITIES
SunDrive has demonstrated its technology on commercial-size cells and demonstration modules. It is now scaling its novel metallisation technology to pilot-scale manufacturing, in preparation for market entry. • 29