HardKr Exclusive First Release | Solving Perovskite Material Coating Difficulties, CAS-affiliated Enterprise Completes Tens of Millions of Yuan Pre-A Round Financing

Author | Qiao Yujie

Editor | Yuan Silai

This article has 1,500 words, with an estimated reading time of 4 minutes

36Kr has learned that perovskite solar cell enterprise Changchun Riyao Optoelectronic Technology Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "Riyao Optoelectronics") has completed a Pre-A round of financing of tens of millions of yuan, jointly invested by Tianjin Venture Capital Management Co., Ltd. (Tianchuang Capital) and Jilin Science and Technology Investment Fund Co., Ltd. (Jilin Provincial Sci-Tech Investment). Previously, the company had obtained an exclusive angel round investment of tens of millions of yuan from Changxing Fund.

Founded in 2023, Riyao Optoelectronics was established based on the research achievements of the research team led by Researcher Qin Chuanjiang from Changchun Institute of Applied Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences. The team has published more than 110 papers in journals including Science and Nature. The company currently lays out three major product lines: novel self-assembled molecule (SAM molecule) materials, on-line thin film inspection equipment, and perovskite solar cell modules.

SAM material is the core breakthrough point of Riyao Optoelectronics. This material is mainly used as the hole transport layer of perovskite cells. The novel radical SAM molecule developed by the team introduces functional groups or twisted configurations into the structure through unique molecular design, which significantly improves its dispersion in solution, and for the first time in the world solves the problem of large-area coating of SAM thin films.

Image source / Enterprise

At present, nickel oxide (NiOx) is commonly used as the hole transport layer in perovskite cell production lines, with a passivation layer material superimposed, which leads to complex processes and high costs. The SAM material developed by Riyao Optoelectronics can realize a new large-area preparation process without NiOx, optimize the production line structure, reduce the production line investment cost by 20% and the cell manufacturing cost by 10%.

Based on this self-developed SAM material, the efficiency of the perovskite/crystalline silicon tandem cell developed by the company in cooperation with LONGi and certified by NREL has reached 34.2%, ranking among the top three in the world. At present, the core SAM material has been cooperated with more than 100 enterprises and scientific research institutions at home and abroad.

In terms of inspection equipment, Qin Chuanjiang told 36Kr: "It is very difficult to characterize the physical and chemical properties of SAM thin films with a thickness of only 2–3 nanometers. There is no commercial equipment on the market that can comprehensively evaluate the performance of this layer."

Aiming at this pain point, Riyao Optoelectronics pioneered the SAM in-situ characterization technology, and cooperatively developed an integrated inspection equipment, which can realize in-situ, high-precision, multi-modal, high-throughput material screening and on-line production line inspection. Based on the electrochemical principle, this equipment can effectively characterize the physical and chemical properties of thin films, filling the process monitoring gap in the perovskite cell production process. The equipment is currently undergoing commercial iteration.

In terms of cell modules, the team can independently complete the whole process development from materials to modules, and currently can prepare devices with a maximum size of 300×300 mm. In the future, the company's products will mainly target two major directions: vehicle-mounted photovoltaics and aerospace photovoltaics.

The funds from this round of financing will be mainly used for the construction of China's first pilot production line of novel self-assembled hole transport material with an annual output of 100-kilogram scale, to expand the core R&D team; at the same time, build a test line for large-size perovskite cell modules, to lock in the two major application tracks of vehicle-mounted photovoltaics and aerospace photovoltaics.

The following is an excerpt of the communication between 36Kr and the founding team of Riyao Optoelectronics:

36Kr: The biggest bottleneck of perovskite mass production is large-area preparation. Which specific layer is the difficulty of large-area coating? What problems has Riyao Optoelectronics' SAM material solved?

Qin Chuanjiang: Our material is equivalent to the first functional layer at the bottom of the perovskite cell, coated on the conductive substrate. The current mainstream production line process is to first coat a layer of nickel oxide on ITO conductive glass, then coat the passivation material on the nickel oxide or directly prepare perovskite, and our material is directly coated before the perovskite.

The difficulty of large-area modules is that each layer must be of sufficient quality to finally obtain high-efficiency devices. This is why the efficiency of small-area devices can be very high, while the efficiency of large-area modules has not yet reached the level of crystalline silicon. Our SAM layer firstly ensures the quality of the hole transport layer itself, and it will also directly affect the film-forming quality of the upper perovskite layer. More importantly, it enables the nickel oxide-free preparation of the hole transport layer, omitting one process step.

36Kr: At this stage, the revenue comes from SAM materials and inspection equipment, and modules will be involved later. How do you consider this pace of development?

Qin Chuanjiang: Our current positioning is an upstream material and process supplier, and there is no direct competition with downstream OEMs, which makes it easier for us to gain recognition in the industry. Prioritizing the development of materials and inspection equipment essentially allows us to take a leading position at the most upstream of the perovskite industrialization. At this stage, the competition focuses on technology and material performance, rather than module production capacity.

Of course, we also need to consider the risk that customers will develop similar materials on their own in the future, so we will maintain our leading position through continuous technological iteration.

In terms of modules, we are already able to produce them in small batches. As for whether and when to build a large-scale module production line, it will be decided according to the development of the market. If the perovskite market grows rapidly and the market space is large enough, we may also build a module production line, which is a long-term strategic option for the company.