Los Alamos’ UbiQD signs supply agreement with First Solar, paving the way for quantum dot-powered solar panels

UbiQD, the Los Alamos-based company that is turning nanoscale, three-dimensional structures known as quantum dots into sunlight-harvesting machines, announced on Wednesday that it has entered into an agreement with First Solar Inc. to implement its technology into the company’s solar panels.

The exclusive, multi-year agreement with First Solar, which manufactures thin-film bifacial photovoltaic solar panels, is a big win for UbiQD, which spun out of Los Alamos National Laboratory more than a decade ago. It follows the company’s initial joint development agreement with Tempe, Arizona-based First Solar in 2023, aimed at mass supplying UbiQD’s technology. The new supply agreement now puts UbiQD in a position to grow production by more than 100 metric tons per year, company officials said.

“This is a turning point for the quantum dot industry with this first high volume QD supply agreement outside of display,” UbiQD Founder and CEO Hunter McDaniel said in a statement. “This partnership showcases how U.S. innovation and manufacturing can deliver differentiated performance, especially at a time when making breakthroughs in efficiency and materials is more vital than ever.”

UbiQD, since launching in 2014, has used its quantum dot technology in applications such as solar-generating windows and plastic row covers for crops to accelerate greenhouse plant growth — the latter of which last year won a South by Southwest innovation award.

The Los Alamos company now aims to embed its technology in First Solar’s panels at a time when energy consumption is only growing, especially with the demand for artificial intelligence and the data centers that power it.

UbiQD, earlier this year, closed on a Series B round that netted the company $20 million — a sign of confidence from investors that its technology has applicable use in the growing renewable energy space.

That confidence also caught the attention of First Solar, a company competing in a solar panel market now focused on performance and price.

Markus Gloeckler, chief technology officer of First Solar, said the company is “excited about the potential for quantum dot technology to contribute meaningful gains to the performance” of its solar panels.

“At utility-scale, even incremental gains in bifaciality translate into significant real-world impact on energy yield,” Gloeckler said.