1366 Technologies (CubicPV)

1366 Technologies (now operating as CubicPV) is a Bedford, Massachusetts-based solar technology company that originally pioneered a revolutionary "Direct Wafer" manufacturing process - casting silicon wafers directly from molten silicon, bypassing the costly and wasteful ingot-growing and wire-sawing steps that dominate conventional wafer production. This innovation dramatically reduced material waste and manufacturing costs for silicon solar wafers, making domestically produced wafers more cost-competitive. The company was founded in 2008 as an MIT spinout and subsequently merged with Hunt Perovskite Technologies to form CubicPV, combining silicon wafer expertise with cutting-edge perovskite tandem solar cell development.

Today, CubicPV's core focus is on commercializing perovskite-silicon tandem solar modules - a next-generation architecture that stacks a perovskite absorber layer on top of a silicon cell, enabling the combined device to capture a broader spectrum of sunlight and achieve efficiencies exceeding 30% greater than conventional single-junction silicon modules. The company uses solution-processed perovskite layers via slot die coating, paired with established vapor and solution deposition methods for other cell layers. In 2025, a collaboration between CubicPV and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) achieved a certified 24.0% efficiency for a perovskite minimodule - the first time a U.S. effort set a record in that category. CubicPV also received a $6 million DOE grant under the Advancing U.S. Thin-Film Solar Photovoltaics program for its work in 4-terminal, durable perovskite tandem technology.

CubicPV is strategically significant to the U.S. energy supply chain because it represents one of the few domestically rooted efforts to develop and manufacture next-generation silicon wafers and tandem solar modules at scale - technologies that are currently dominated by Chinese manufacturers. By combining foundational IP in direct wafer manufacturing with perovskite tandem innovation, CubicPV is working to reduce U.S. dependence on imported solar components, lower the levelized cost of electricity, and decrease the embodied carbon of solar manufacturing. It has been named to TIME's America's Top GreenTech Companies list for two consecutive years (2025 and 2026), underscoring its recognized role in the clean energy transition.