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A Singapore-based start-up is set to transform the global solar industry using advanced artificial intelligence to develop the world’s most cost-effective and efficient solar cells. Deploying AI technology, the start-up is addressing the limitations of conventional silicon-based solar panels and leading the way in creating next-generation solar cells with higher efficiency and lower costs.
Solar energy has become a critical player in global decarbonisation efforts, but traditional silicon-based solar cells, which make up 95% of the market, are nearing their efficiency limit of 27%. To push beyond this barrier, researchers are turning to perovskite, a material with remarkable semiconductor properties that has the potential to boost efficiency to 39.5%, as reported by a 2023 study from the Fraunhofer Institute in Germany. Despite its promise, perovskite technology faces challenges related to scalability and stability, making it difficult to create efficient, long-lasting, and cost-effective solar panels.
Founded in 2020 by AI scientists Dr Vijay Chandrasekhar and Dr Joel Li, the start-up aims to tackle these challenges head-on by combining AI with semiconductor expertise to create high-efficiency perovskite silicon tandem (PST) solar cells. The company’s AI platform, Mobius, accelerates the process of solar cell development, which has traditionally relied on slow, manual trial-and-error experimentation.
Mobius uses advanced algorithms to optimise the process of developing solar cells, enabling the start-up to rapidly test and refine different combinations of materials and processes. This speeds up recipe development – the combination of steps needed to manufacture solar panels – by up to ten times compared to conventional methods. As a result, it can reduce production costs and time while increasing the efficiency of solar panels.
By 2022, the start-up had demonstrated the disruptive potential of its AI technology in collaboration with leading semiconductor companies and research institutes. This success prompted the company to shift its focus toward producing its own solar panels. To achieve this, they built an in-house research and development line in 2023, which allowed the team to gather high-quality data for refining the Mobius platform and further improving the production process.
The company’s decision to establish its own R&D line has enabled it to overcome previous limitations in accessing data. Before this, the start-up had to rely on external partners for data collection, which slowed down their work. Now, with full control over its production line, the company can quickly gather and analyse data, improving the accuracy of its AI models and leading to faster and more efficient solar cell development.
A critical factor in the start-up’s success has been the support of Singapore’s robust tech ecosystem. The company partnered with the Agency for Science, Technology and Research (ASTAR), benefiting from collaborations with the Institute of Microelectronics and access to AI talent through ASTAR’s Technology for Enterprise Capability Upgrading (T-Up) scheme. These partnerships helped gather the data and talent necessary to build its AI-powered solar cell development platform, significantly enhancing its capabilities.
As a result of its innovative approach, the start-up has achieved remarkable outcomes, drastically reducing the time required for recipe development and producing high-performance solar cells at a fraction of the cost. The startup’s AI-powered technology has positioned it as a global leader in the solar industry, and it was recognised by the World Economic Forum as one of the top startups in the 2024 Technology Pioneers cohort.
Looking ahead, the start-up aims to continue refining its solar cell technology and translate its research into mass production. By harnessing the power of AI, the start-up is poised to make a lasting impact on the solar energy market, driving the adoption of more efficient, cost-effective, and sustainable solar panels to accelerate the global transition to clean energy.
