GraphEnergyTech: The Venture Leader Mobile releasing the power of graphene for solar cells

26.01.2024 11:15, Rita Longobardi

Meet Thomas Baumeler, CEO of GraphEnergyTech. The Cleantech startup brings together world leaders in advanced solar cell design and graphene to enable the production of low-cost, high-efficiency solar photovoltaic systems. Thomas and the other Swiss National Mobile Team members will head to the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona at the end of February.

Name: Thomas Baumeler
Location: Lausanne, Switzerland
Nationality: Swiss
Graduated from: EPFL
Job title: CEO
Number of employees: 3
Money raised: CHF 100,000 (currently closing a CHF 1M round)



 

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Can you tell us who your product or solution helps, and how?
GraphEnergyTech helps solar panel manufacturers by bringing them a carbon-based electrode technology, which is 85% cheaper than the current benchmark technology used in solar panels (Silver electrodes), and much more environmentally friendly. Importantly as well, we’re bringing to solar panel manufacturers a crucially needed alternative to silver, as worldwide silver reserves are depleting dramatically fast (we likely won’t have any more silver available at all by 2050).

What market are you addressing and what is the potential of your startup in that market?
We’re addressing the solar panels industry, which market was valued at USD 160.3 billion in 2021 and it is expected to grow at a CAGR of 16.5% between 2022 and 2032. More specifically, the cost of the silver electrode represents 10% of the overall manufacturing costs of solar panels. In 2022, the crude worth of silver used by the solar industry reached USD 3 billion.

How and where did you come up with the idea for your startup?
The idea came to me when I was working on my PhD degree, developing solar cells within Prof. Graetzel’s laboratory at EPFL. I was trying to replace the metallic electrode with a non-metallic technology, and acquired some conductive graphene technology from the Cambridge Graphene Center, via Prof. Andrea Ferrari. I got really exciting results by applying this graphene technology as an electrode on my solar cells and thought I had in my hands the potential solution/breakthrough to further foster the development of (more sustainable) solar energy. At the end of my PhD, I decided to go for a startup and GraphEnergyTech was launched.

What do you expect from the Venture Leaders roadshow, and how do you think it will help you achieve your vision?
I mainly expect to get exposure, and this in particular towards potential investors and players in the solar industry. Both are very important for the development of my startup. The latter to be our product development partners to tailor our solution to the exact needs of the solar industry, and the former to give us the financial means to run our R&D and product development activities, along with business development. I also expect that meeting with other startup founders will bring me some very valuable insights and tools to continue to grow as a founder and CEO, and this is also very important to ensure the proper growth of my business.
 

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What are your team’s key achievements to date?
The real key achievement which I’m the most proud of is to have surrounded myself with key figures to support the development of my business. Apart from my star advisory board (Profs. Graetzel and Ferrari, both shortlisted for the Nobel Prize for their work on solar cells (Graetzel) and graphene (Ferrari), I’ve surrounded myself with key technology commercialization experts to help me on the business side (FrontierIP Group), and have hired two excellent engineers who are extremely relevant to my business (one expert of graphene electrode, one expert of solar panels development with 10 years of startup experience).

Is there a key principle or value that guides you as you build your company?
My key principle is to develop my business, creating value for the company, but always with the ambition to contribute to improving society. Making the world a (slightly) better place is a key value for me.

What is the most important lesson you have learned as a founder?
Being resilient and persevering is the key to success. Nothing great comes easy, but with motivation and will, you can achieve great results.

What is your favourite productivity hack or tool and why?
My favourite hack is always having my tablet with me and taking public transportation. Saves me almost every minute of any trip.

What was your dream job when you were a child?
As a young kid, I wanted to be a policeman, and as a slightly older child, I wanted to be a scientist discovering great things that would solve global problems (I guess a mix of Einstein and Da Vinci type of inventor/scientist).

Do you recommend a podcast you want to share with us?
The Tim Ferris show is definitely interesting, involving startup ecosystem players, but also other successful people (athletes, musicians, etc.), which I find particularly interesting to foster ideas and gain insights into other interesting perspectives.