Swiss manufacturer of materials for perovskite and dye-sensitized solar cells, colored PV panels, and solar test equipment with proprietary light sources.
Solaronix SA
Aubonne (CH-1170), SwitzerlandNew on Amplifa
About Solaronix
Solaronix SA is a Swiss company headquartered in Aubonne, founded in 1993 by twin brothers Andreas and Toby Meyer, and since 1994 a licensee of EPFL for the Dye Solar Cell technology. The company is organized into three business units: Materials, Solar Cells, and Equipment. The Materials division produces and distributes specialty chemicals and components for the manufacture of perovskite and dye-sensitized solar cells, including titanium dioxide, zirconium dioxide, aluminum oxide and nickel oxide pastes, carbon and silver pastes, electrolytes, dyes, as well as TCO substrates and sealing films. The Solar Cells division develops dye-sensitized solar cells and colored or transparent PV panels based on its own materials; a pilot line produces panel prototypes for case studies, such as the world's first multicolored DSC façade at the EPFL Convention Center in 2013. The Equipment division designs and manufactures solar simulators (Solixon), Light Soakers (Sunirad), UV testers (UV-Rad) and Cells Testers based on the self-developed Lumixo light engine, a microwave-excited electrodeless plasma lamp with a lifetime of over 20,000 hours. Customers include research centers, academic laboratories, PV manufacturers and certification bodies worldwide; delivery is worldwide via a webshop.
- Site
- CH-1170 Aubonne
- Processes
- Manufacture of specialty chemicals for perovskite and dye-sensitized solar cells (TiO2, ZrO2, Al2O3,, Manufacture of dye-sensitized solar cells (DSC/DSSC) and perovskite solar cells incl. pilot line for, Manufacture of solar test equipment (Solar Simulators Solixon, Light Soakers Sunirad, UV Testers, Light source manufacturing: Lumixo and Lumixo-S light engines (microwave-excited electrodeless, I-V measurement systems (IV-System Basic with Keithley 2401; IV-System Pro with Kepco BOP and 3, Screen printing of functional pastes (TiO2, ZrO2, Al2O3, NiO, carbon, silver), Slot-die coating / spin coating of functional pastes and inks, Design of custom test equipment (mechanical design, optical calculations,
- Materials
- Titanium dioxide (anatase nanoparticles), Zirconium dioxide, Aluminum oxide, Nickel oxide, Graphite/carbon black, Silver (conductive paste), Platinum (catalyst precursor), Ruthenium dyes
- Certificates
- IEC 60904-9:2007 / ASTM E927-05 / JIS C 8912 (equipment), CE / RoHS (equipment), ISO 9001
- Founded
- 1993
- Industries
- Photovoltaics industry, Research centers and academic laboratories, Certification bodies, Semiconductor/thin-film PV manufacturers
- 01
Manufacture of nanoparticles and functional pastes (TiO2, ZrO2, Al2O3, NiO,
- 02
Development of dyes, electrolytes and perovskite precursors
- 03
Screen printing or slot-die/spin coating of functional layers
- 04
Assembly of dye-sensitized and perovskite solar cells and panels (pilot line)
- 05
Manufacture of light engines (Lumixo) and test equipment (Solixon, Sunirad,
- 06
I-V measurement systems, Tracer software and turnkey commissioning
Locations
Aubonne
CHHeadquarters: Materials, Solar Cells, Equipment
- Part weight / size
- Illumination areas up to 4 x 4 m (custom up to 7.5 m²)
- Lot size
- One-offs to series; panel prototypes via pilot line
- Materials
- TiO2, ZrO2, Al2O3, NiO, carbon, silver, perovskite precursors, electrolytes
- Solixon A-20 / A-45 / A-70 / A-100 / A-1525
- Sunirad A-45 / A-70 / A-100
- Cells Tester A-1525
- UV-Rad-1525
- Lumixo / Lumixo-S light engines
- IV-System Basic (Keithley 2401)
- IV-System Pro (Kepco BOP, 3x Agilent DMM)
- Pilot line for panel prototypes
Products and Assemblies
Inside the production
Industries
Processes & technical limits
| Processes | Tolerance | Max. part | Weight | Lot size | Materials |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Manufacture of specialty chemicals for perovskite and dye-sensitized solar cells (TiO2, ZrO2, Al2O3,Engineering | – | – | – | – | Titanium dioxide, Zirconium dioxide, Aluminum oxide, Nickel oxide, Carbon/graphite, Silver, Platinum, Ruthenium dyes, organic dyes, ionic liquids, perovskite precursors |
| Manufacture of dye-sensitized solar cells (DSC/DSSC) and perovskite solar cells incl. pilot line forAssembly | – | – | – | – | Titanium dioxide, Dyes, Perovskites, Electrolytes, TCO glass, Platinum, Carbon |
| Manufacture of solar test equipment (Solar Simulators Solixon, Light Soakers Sunirad, UV TestersTesting | Illumination non-uniformity ±1% to ±5% | active area up to 4 x 4 m | – | – | – |
| Light source manufacturing: Lumixo and Lumixo-S light engines (microwave-excited electrodelessAssembly | – | – | – | – | – |
| I-V measurement systems (IV-System Basic with Keithley 2401; IV-System Pro with Kepco BOP and 3Testing | – | – | – | – | – |
| Screen printing of functional pastes (TiO2, ZrO2, Al2O3, NiO, carbon, silver)Surface | – | – | – | – | Titanium dioxide, Zirconium dioxide, Aluminum oxide, Nickel oxide, Graphite/carbon black, Silver |
| Slot-die coating / spin coating of functional pastes and inksSurface | – | – | – | – | Titanium dioxide, Zirconium dioxide, Graphite/carbon black |
| Design of custom test equipment (mechanical design, optical calculations,Engineering | – | – | – | – | – |
12 Anlagen & Maschinen
| Machine | Manufacturer / model | Quantity | Working area | Year built | Site |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Solar Simulator / Light Soaker | Solaronix Solixon A-20 | – | 20 x 20 cm illuminated area | – | Aubonne, Switzerland |
| Solar Simulator | Solaronix Solixon A-45 | – | 450 x 450 mm | – | Aubonne, Switzerland |
| Solar Simulator | Solaronix Solixon A-70 | – | 700 x 700 mm | – | Aubonne, Switzerland |
| Solar Simulator | Solaronix Solixon A-100 | – | 1000 x 1000 mm | – | Aubonne, Switzerland |
| Solar Simulator / Light Soaker / Thermal Tester | Solaronix Solixon A-1525 | – | 250 x 150 cm illuminated area, 20 Lumixo light engines | – | Aubonne, Switzerland |
| Cells Tester (Solar Simulator for wafers) | Solaronix Cells Tester A-1525 | – | 250 x 150 cm, array 9 x 15 (135) 6-inch Si wafers | – | Aubonne, Switzerland |
| UV Tester (UV preconditioning) | Solaronix UV-Rad-1525 | – | 250 x 150 cm illuminated area | – | Aubonne, Switzerland |
| Light Engine (electrodeless plasma lamp) | Solaronix Lumixo / Lumixo-S | – | 300-1300 W luminous flux, >20'000 h lifetime | – | Aubonne, Switzerland |
| Light Soaker | Solaronix Sunirad A-45 / A-70 / A-100 | – | 450 x 450 mm / 700 x 700 mm / 1000 x 1000 mm | – | Aubonne, Switzerland |
| Source Meter (I-V measurement system) | Keithley 2401 | – | 10 pA - 1 A, 1 µV - 20 V | – | – |
| Bipolar Power Supply + DMMs (IV-System Pro) | Kepco / Agilent Kepco BOP, 3x Agilent DMM | – | ±4 A, ±100 V | – | – |
| Pilot line for dye-sensitized solar cell panel prototypes | Solaronix | 1 | – | – | Aubonne, Switzerland |
Additional services
Reference customers
Quality and Standards
The chemicals are tested in in-house qualification solar cells. The Solixon, Sunirad, Cells Tester and UV-Rad systems are certified to IEC 60904-9:2007, ASTM E927-05 and JIS C 8912 and come with CE/RoHS compliance.
| Evidence | Aubonne |
|---|---|
| IEC 60904-9:2007 / ASTM E927-05 / JIS C 8912 (equipment) | |
| CE / RoHS (equipment) | |
| ISO 9001 |
History
- 1993
Solaronix SA founded in Aubonne by twin brothers Andreas and Toby Meyer.
- 1994
First startup with an EPFL license for the Dye Solar Cell technology (Sun2 license).
- 2013
World's first multicolored Dye Solar Cell façade realized at the EPFL Convention Center.
- 2019
Industrial partner in the European UNIQUE consortium for carbon-based perovskite solar cells.