| HelioVolt Corporation | |
| Foundation: | 2001 |
| Defunct: | 2014 |
| Location Country: | United States |
| Key People: | Dr. B.J. Stanbery Steve Darnell John Prater Dr. Peter Hersh Dr. Bao Sang |
| Products: | CIGS solar cells |
HelioVolt Corporation was a privately held solar energy company based in Austin, Texas that suspended operations in 2014. The company manufactured photovoltaic (PV) solar modules using a thin film semiconductor process based on copper indium gallium selenide (CIGS) to produce CIGS solar cells. HelioVolt manufactured these thin film modules for commercial rooftop, utility-scale ground mount, residential, building-integrated photovoltaics (BIPV) and custom installations. The company raised over $230 million in investments, including over $80 million by SK Group.[1]
HelioVolt Corporation was founded in 2001 to develop and commercialize its FASST® process for applying CIGS thin-film photovoltaics directly onto conventional construction materials. The company’s FASST® process,[2] [3] based on semiconductor printing, was conceived by HelioVolt founder Dr. Billy J. Stanbery, an expert in the materials science of CIGS and related compound semiconductors.[4] FASST® is a patented manufacturing process for CIGS synthesis.[5]
HelioVolt produced thin film solar PV modules for commercial rooftop, utility-scale ground mount, residential, BIPV and custom installations. HelioVolt suspended operations in 2014[6] and the contents of the Austin facility were auctioned in January 2015.[7]
Large-scale investment in HelioVolt began with $8 million in Series A funding from New Enterprise Associates in 2005.[8] A further $77 million was added in a Series B funding round co-led by Paladin Capital Group and the Masdar Clean Tech Fund in August 2007.[9] The Series B funding round was closed for a total of $101 million in October 2007 with investments from Sequel Venture Partners, Noventi, and Passport Capital.[10] The latest investment will fund factory expansion preparation activities.
HelioVolt developed a new way to manufacture thin-film CIGS semiconductor coatings for solar panels, based on research into the fundamental device physics of the CIGS semiconductor material.[11] However, this solar thin-film processing method was flawed and failed to scale economically, leading to the company's demise in 2014.[12] The contents of the Austin facility were auctioned in January 2015.[13] Conventional semiconductor processing requires a vacuum process to deposit the semiconductor film on the substrate. The need for vacuum chambers makes this a lengthy batch-oriented production process. HelioVolt developed a nanomaterial-based coating that could be sprayed onto a wide variety of substrates without requiring a vacuum. Non-vacuum or atmospheric deposition processes offer a combination of lower costs, process simplicity and reduced manufacturing times.[3] The company's FASST manufacturing process[14] won a Nanotech Briefs "Nano 50" nanotechnology award in 2006. In 2008, HelioVolt and NREL won an R&D 100 Award for their innovative Thin Film Solar Printing Process,[15] as well as the year's coveted R&D Magazine's Editor’s Choice for Most Revolutionary Technology.[16] [17]
HelioVolt produced thin film solar cells that could convert 14% of the sunlight that hit them into electricity, and solar modules with conversion efficiencies of above 12 percent, as certified by NREL.[18]