ACE Inventor was selected on 24 July 2026 for the Stepping Stone track of the government's start-up growth technology development programme. The award is worth 200 million won, the agreement was concluded in August, and the work runs to December 2027.

The project centres on encapsulants for certified modules. An encapsulant fills the space between cells and the front and rear materials, keeping out moisture and absorbing mechanical stress, and it largely determines how long a module lasts. Lightweight modules use composites rather than glass, and the different thermal expansion behaviour means a conventional encapsulant cannot simply be carried over.

The selection follows DeepTech-TIPS in 2023, worth 1.5 billion won, and DIPS 1000+ in 2025, worth 600 million won. The company has maintained research funding by moving from one government programme to the next as development has progressed.

The funding connects directly to reliability work on the six models being certified to KS C 8561, with a factory audit scheduled for October 2026 and certificates expected in January 2027.

ACE Inventor Inc., founded in November 2022, develops ultra-lightweight building-integrated photovoltaic (BIPV) modules. Its core technologies are a water-based hydrogel electrolyte membrane, electrophoretic large-area flexible electrode coating, and ultra-lightweight curved module design using FRP and ETFE composites. The company operates a 50 MW annual production line in Paltan-myeon, Hwaseong, Gyeonggi-do, and holds KS C 8577 BIPV module certification together with ISO 9001, 14001 and 45001. Its patent portfolio includes seven registered Korean patents and one registered US patent, with 23 applications filed in Korea and abroad. Contact info@aceivt.com · www.aceivt.com