RadianX Raises $5 Million to Make Perovskite Solar Power Packs for Battery-Free Devices

Other investors in the round were One Small Planet, Sachsen Ventures, Avila VC, California Innovation Fund, quantumEDGE, Riceberg Ventures and Alumni Ventures. Separately, Pacific Union Technology Precision Manufacturing is contributing $4 million in non-dilutive investment to build a dedicated line for the company.

The company is targeting what it calls "edge energy": e-readers that never need charging, factory and IoT sensors that never need a battery swap, and potentially robots and wearables that have been limited by battery life. The commercial bet is that the power demands of many small connected devices can be met by light already present in offices, homes and plants, removing a maintenance cost that grows with every sensor deployed.

RadianX says its perovskite material performs on par with conventional solar panels outdoors and is twice as effective at harvesting indoor light. "We can harvest any kind of photon, whether it's an outdoor or indoor photon, and keep the device running longer — or running forever," co-founder and chief operating officer Josh Douglas told TechCrunch.

Perovskites have long attracted researchers for their high power density, but they remain more expensive than silicon panels and less durable. RadianX said it has met a key industry durability standard and that indoor use exposes its panels to less wear. It said a 1.2 metre by 0.6 metre panel reached 22.33% efficiency, which the company described as the best on record. The panels can be as thin as 0.7 millimetres and cut to size.

The company is also developing power electronics tuned to perovskites, since most existing circuitry is designed for silicon. Co-founder and chief executive Vivian Qu said RadianX does not plan to sell bare panels and instead wants to supply device makers with complete power packages. The company has not named any device makers as customers.