Melbourne-based technology company RayGen has secured a strategic partnership with Photon Energy NV with the objective of developing global renewable energy projects suitable for the roll-out of RayGen’s unique solar power and electricity storage technology.

Photon Energy will act as a project developer, EPC contractor and equity investor in the projects and help with the development of a 100MW/1,000MWh solar-plus-storage project.

“Our investment in RayGen is our first step into the upstream segment of the solar industry and it comes at a crucial time,” Photon Energy chief executive Georg Hotar says.

“The elimination of solar energy’s intermittency and ensuring its 24-hour availability at grid-competitive cost is the holy grail and RayGen has found it. Our partnership with RayGen will enable us to address a vast new universe of opportunities both on-grid as well as in off-grid remote locations including islands.

“We are thrilled to be working with RayGen’s team on pushing the boundaries of the solar energy industry in the coming years.”

Photon Energy managing director Michael Gartner believes that this investment and partnership with RayGen helps tackle the issue of intermittency of solar energy.

“The RayGen PV Ultra module is the most efficient way to convert solar energy into electricity to date. Combining high efficiency concentrated PV generation with thermal absorption and storage, it achieves the highest energy density of any solar technology available today,” he says.

“The RayGen technology is a massive step forward providing cost effective base load, inertia and on-demand power as an integral part of our future energy supply.

“Photon Energy is very excited to be working with the RayGen team on both optimising EPC outcomes and to develop utility scale projects globally.”

RayGen combines proprietary solar technology with tailored electro-thermal storage cycle dubbed Thermal Hydro that uses existing industrial equipment to deliver high-performance, low cost electricity storage.

This Thermal Hydro efficiently stores thermal energy in two insulated water reservoirs with a 90°C temperature difference.

“RayGen is delighted to be working with Photon Energy to accelerate the deployment of our technology,” RayGen chief executive Richard Payne says.

“RayGen has found a strategic partner in Photon Energy who shares our mission to accelerate the clean energy transition. Moving toward 100% renewable energy will require storage solutions that can store power cost-effectively for hours, days or weeks and be deployed at large scale around the world.”

RayGen’s partners in the feasibility stage are utility AGL and engineering firm GHD.