1366 Technologies will receive four million dollars in federal funding from the Advanced Research Projects Agency - Energy (ARPA-E) of the US Department of Energy (DOE).

The first ARPA-E solicitation was extremely competitive with over 3,600 applications from across the USA, and after an extensive application process, the selection committee named 1366 Technologies as the only photovoltaics (PV) company to receive funding.

Of the large pool of applicants, 37 final recipients were chosen through a rigorous review process with input from multiple review panels composed of leading US energy science and technology experts and ARPA-E's program managers.

Evaluations were based on the potential for high impact on ARPA-E's goals and scientific and technical merit. 1366 Technologies was selected for its 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.

The company also recently unveiled a Self-Aligned Cell (SAC) architecture, with innovative cell texturing and metallisation design to deliver simpler, more commercially-viable solutions for multi-crystalline cell manufacturers striving to achieve 18% cell efficiency.

Note: Professor Emanuel Sachs, the CTO of 1366 Technologies is confirmed as the guest speaker for Renewable Energy Focus’ interactive webinar taking place on Tuesday November 10 (10.00 EST/15.00 GMT), in association with PerkinElmer.