Solar power is the fastest-growing source of renewable energy, yet Europe manufactures a negligible share of the solar capacity it installs each year. At the same time, conventional silicon cells are approaching their practical efficiency limit of around 27 to 28%. Noak, publicly launched on 30 October and based on the EnergyVille campus in Genk, wants to tackle both challenges.

Noak’s tandem cell places a very thin layer of perovskite crystals on top of a conventional silicon cell. Each layer captures a different part of the solar spectrum, which allows efficiencies of 30 to 35%. According to Noak, that could mean up to 50 to 75% more electricity from the same roof. The technology builds on more than ten years of research within IUMAT, the Institute for Materials Research of UHasselt and imec at the EnergyVille campus in Genk. The cells have been tested outdoors for five years at 11 sites on three continents, through intense sun, extreme heat, heavy rain and sub-zero temperatures.

“Over the past decade, imec and UHasselt within their labs at EnergyVille, have helped push perovskite photovoltaics from a promising research concept to a technology with real industrial potential. With Noak, we now can translate that expertise into industrial manufacturing,” says Jef Poortmans, program director PV at imec and R&D coordinator of EnergyVille.

Fewer scarce materials, designed for recycling

Noak’s own 3D-woven back-contact foil moves the electrical connections to the rear of the cell. Less sunlight is blocked, and far less metal is needed: Noak is working towards near-zero silver in its module interconnections. Components are designed to be taken apart at the end of their life, and Noak aims towards the use of 100% certified recycled metals.

The €5 million will be used to accelerate development on the existing infrastructure at EnergyVille, and to prepare scaling with gigawatt manufacturing partners. Noak is led by CEO Geert Palmers, who co-founded the energy company 3E and began his career at imec researching solar cells.

“Noak’s innovation goes beyond technology. We aim to design a value chain through global industrial partnerships without relying on vulnerable critical dominant dependencies,” says Geert Palmers, CEO of Noak.

For the Helios Foundation, Noak fits squarely within its first pillar: supporting innovative solutions that move Belgium towards carbon neutrality. Noak-PV is also one of the ten projects selected in the Helios Foundation’s Decarbonisation Challenge, a call for ambitious initiatives that bring concrete, systemic solutions to reduce carbon emissions in Belgium. Within that call, the project will validate pilot-line production of its tandem panels and demonstrate their readiness for multi-gigawatt scaling.

“Noak shows how Belgian research can grow into an industrial player in the energy transition. That bridge between science and industry is exactly what we want to help build,” says Luc Lallemand, Managing Director, Helios Foundation.