Epiwafer foundry and substrate maker IQE plc of Cardiff, Wales, UK says that its minor equity stake in the share capital of Solar Junction Corp (SJC) of San Jose, CA, USA, which makes III-V multi-junction solar cells for concentrated photovoltaics (CPV), has been acquired by a new strategic investor, as part of an acquisition of SJC. The new investor aims to accelerate the large-scale global adoption and commercialization of SJC's CPV technology.
The identity of the new investor, and specific terms of the acquisition, are not yet public and covered under non disclosure agreements. However, IQE says that its exclusive long-term wafer supply agreement using SJC's dilute nitride materials technology - agreed when IQE invested in SJC in 2012 - will be unaffected by the transaction. The return to SJC equity shareholders, including IQE, will be deferred and contingent upon specific aspects of SJC's future business development. Further details will be provided in due course.
In February 2012, IQE invested $5m in a 9.8% equity stake in order to obtain exclusive rights to supply SJC with high-efficiency CPV wafers using SJC's unique dilute nitride materials technology through a long-term supply agreement. The primary investors in SJC at that time were several US-based venture capitalists. The technology has subsequently been transferred to IQE's large-volume production tools, and record efficiencies of 44.1% have been achieved from this production platform for standard triple-junction cells. IQE has since been supplying wafers to SJC on a commercial basis under the terms of the wafer supply agreement.
As anticipated at the time, SJC has required subsequent equity fundraisings, which were supported by its venture capital investors, but in which IQE did not participate. However, having obtained volume manufacturing credibility through the technology transfer and manufacturing agreements with IQE, the longer-term objective of SJC has always been to secure a major strategic investor to better facilitate and accelerate the commercialization and global adoption of its technology. IQE says that it has fully supported this initiative. Attracting the new strategic investor marks another milestone in accelerating SJC's growth and commercialization plan for its CPV technology, says IQE.
