36Kr Exclusive | Space Photovoltaic Enterprise Incubated by Shanghai Institute of Optics and Fine Mechanics Has Completed Nearly 100 Million Yuan in Financing, With Junda Co., Ltd., Shanghai Future Industry Fund and Other Investors Betting on the Project

Author ｜ Qiao Yujie

Editor ｜ Yuan Silai

This article has 2600 words and is estimated to take 5 minutes to read

36Kr learned that Shanghai Starwing Core Energy Technology Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "Shangyi"), an enterprise specializing in space photovoltaic cells and core materials, recently completed its Pre-A round of strategic financing. This round of financing was jointly participated by Junda Co., Ltd., Shanghai Future Industry Fund, Lingang Blue Bay Capital, Nanxun Luyao, and semiconductor-related industrial investors, while the existing shareholder Zhongke Shenguang continued to increase its investment. The funds will be mainly used for technological iteration, space environment tests and on-orbit satellite verification, to accelerate the commercialization of space perovskite photovoltaic cells and space-grade CPI flexible packaging substrate materials.

(Source / Enterprise)

Shanghai Starwing Core Energy Technology Co., Ltd. was founded in January 2026. Its core R&D and founding team comes from the scientific research system of Shanghai Institute of Optics and Fine Mechanics, Chinese Academy of Sciences. The team members cover multiple directions such as aerospace optoelectronic materials, perovskite optoelectronic devices, CPI functional films, and aerospace-grade reliability verification, with complete capabilities ranging from underlying material and device process R&D, space environment adaptation, to on-orbit measurement verification and commercial aerospace engineering implementation.

Industry forecasts show that by 2031, the global scale of low-orbit on-orbit satellites is expected to exceed 300,000. With the continuous mass launch of spacecraft such as low-orbit broadband communication, high-resolution remote sensing, and space computing platforms, the areal density of traditional rigid solar wings generally reaches 20 to 30 kg/kW, accounting for 35% to 40% of the total satellite weight, which is increasingly difficult to adapt to the requirements of new-generation satellites for lightweight, miniaturization and high payload ratio.

Against this background, flexible retractable solar wings are developing rapidly. Under the same power generation area, the storage volume of flexible solar wings can be reduced by more than 60% compared with rigid solutions, and the specific mass-to-power ratio can also be greatly improved.

At present, space photovoltaic technology mainly evolves along two routes. The first is the packaging material upgrading route, which replaces the traditional cerium glass cover plate with CPI flexible polyimide packaging film. Compared with glass packaging, CPI can further reduce weight by more than 40%, with a bending radius of ≤5mm, which can significantly reduce the areal density of solar wings, reduce the storage volume, be more suitable for retractable flexible structures, and be compatible with multiple battery technology routes such as perovskite and crystalline silicon.

Shangyi SCPI packaging materials (Source / Enterprise)

The other is the battery material iteration route. The theoretical efficiency of single-junction perovskite cells can reach 33.7%, which is expected to break the efficiency upper limit of traditional silicon-based cells. At the same time, it has good low-light response characteristics, and the specific mass-to-power ratio of the module can reach several times that of traditional silicon-based solutions, with natural advantages in lightweight and thinness.

Shangyi's lightweight single-junction perovskite cell module (Source / Enterprise)

Shangyi further integrates the two technical routes, adopts space-grade CPI (SCPI) flexible substrates, conducts R&D of perovskite cells for space scenarios, and builds the next-generation flexible solar wing solution.

At the perovskite cell end, the space environment faces extreme conditions such as thermal shock, proton radiation, atomic oxygen, and vacuum ultraviolet, which requires targeted adaptation for material formula, battery structure and preparation process. Shangyi has carried out intrinsic stability modifications such as component optimization of perovskite absorption layer, interface defect passivation, and ion migration suppression around space applications, and moved the aerospace-grade environment simulation assessment to the R&D stage in advance. Simulation data shows that after the product completes 4000 thermal shock cycles in the range of -120°C to 120°C, the cell efficiency retention rate can remain above 90%.

Shangyi laser scribing operation console (Source / Enterprise)

At the CPI material end, Shangyi is one of the few enterprises in China that has mastered space-grade CPI material technology. According to the company, its relevant technical level can be comparable to similar products in the United States, and it has mastered the complete process flow from material formula to preparation. Compared with the traditional cerium glass packaging system, Shangyi's CPI solution can reduce the areal density of solar wings by 40% to 55%; under low-orbit orbital working conditions, it can help reduce the comprehensive launch cost of a single satellite by about 15% to 20%.

At present, Shangyi has completed multiple rounds of sample development and ground space environment simulation tests, and has completed the on-orbit verification of CPI films with Jietai Aerospace, a joint venture of Junda Co., Ltd., and the relevant on-orbit data verification project has been approved.

In October this year, Shangyi plans to carry the Ziwei spacecraft to complete the on-orbit verification of perovskite flexible photovoltaic in space, to further verify the adaptability and stability of the product in the complex space environment.

Aerospace-grade CPI production line planning of Jietai Aerospace, a joint venture between Shangyi and Junda Co., Ltd. (Source / Enterprise)

In terms of commercialization, as an important space photovoltaic member of Shanghai's "Star Hub Plan" computing power constellation, Shangyi is currently continuously improving its sample delivery capability, providing standardized flexible photovoltaic modules and integrated solar wing solutions for commercial satellite manufacturers and satellite platform enterprises, and simultaneously promoting global layout.

The following is an excerpt of the exchange between 36Kr and Wu Zhengyu, CEO of Shangyi:

36Kr: What are the technical difficulties for perovskite to enter space? Will the common large-area yield problem in the ground stage also affect its application in space?

Wu Zhengyu: The space environment is completely different from the ground environment. The on-orbit operation of perovskite needs to face a variety of extreme conditions such as thermal shock, proton irradiation, vacuum ultraviolet, and atomic oxygen. Therefore, before it is truly applied in space, it must first complete space environment simulation and adaptation on the ground, including formula optimization, redesign of battery structure and adjustment of production process.

On this basis, further real on-orbit carrying verification is required. The verification is mainly divided into two levels: first, to see whether the material itself can withstand the space environment; second, to verify from the engineering perspective whether it can truly enter the satellite power supply system, and evaluate the actual power generation benefit and service life performance.

Under the conditions of high temperature and high voltage in space, the system tends to adopt the design idea of high voltage and low current. In order to reduce the series current, we will actively control the area of perovskite cells to avoid the current rise caused by too large size. For example, the cell specification is set to 5cm × 5cm instead of the square meter level. This size selection enables us to adopt some equipment and processes that are too costly to afford in large-scale ground production, to significantly improve the yield. High-end preparation methods that were not cost-effective in the past may instead have feasibility and obvious advantages in high-value space application scenarios.

36Kr: What technical problems are faced when CPI is used for perovskite cell protection? How does Shangyi solve them?

Wu Zhengyu: We are one of the earlier enterprises in the world to explore the preparation and protection development of perovskite cells on CPI flexible substrates. The reason why we chose this route is that we judge that light, thin, flexible and large-area solar wings will become an important form of space photovoltaics in the future. Compared with the traditional rigid small solar wings with aluminum honeycomb panel structure, if we want to further expand the area of solar wings in the future, we must rely on more lightweight and rollable battery materials.

CPI itself is a very huge material system with thousands of formula combinations. The team needs to systematically screen and conduct in-depth research on these candidate materials, and even carry out independent innovation, to finally find or develop CPI products that are truly suitable for the space environment. It needs to focus on meeting the requirements of ultraviolet radiation resistance, atomic oxygen erosion resistance, proton irradiation resistance and thermal shock resistance.

At the same time, the supporting coating, adhesive, stretching film-forming process of CPI, as well as the interface adaptation between CPI and perovskite layer, are also key links. These problems need to be continuously optimized in the process of process development and actual on-orbit verification. At present, there is no mature on-orbit application scheme for CPI-based perovskite cells in the industry, so we also need to promote technological iteration through continuous on-orbit verification.

36Kr: What is the planned pace of on-orbit verification of CPI combined with perovskite?

Wu Zhengyu: Our strategy is "small steps but fast progress", promoting in stages. The first phase of verification has been completed through the "Tianyan 27" mission in May this year, focusing on investigating the tolerance and protection characteristics of CPI films alone in the space environment. At present, we have obtained stable data for up to three months and released it through public channels. This is also a systematic verification we carried out for the independent space service performance of CPI materials.

In the second stage, we will further verify the actual protection effect of CPI films on the perovskite light-absorbing layer. The relevant carrying plan is arranged on the Ziwei B300 spacecraft, and we are currently waiting for the launch window.

The third phase plans to carry out comprehensive on-orbit verification of the overall structure of CPI perovskite cells and flexible solar wings before the end of the year, and gradually realize the full-chain space verification from materials, devices to systems.