# Joel Jean

> CEO and co-founder of [Swift Solar](https://www.swiftsolar.com), a US manufacturer pioneering high-efficiency perovskite tandem solar technology. Joel is a US-based perovskite photovoltaics expert with an MIT EECS PhD and a Stanford undergraduate degree. Forbes 30 Under 30 in Energy. Co-author of the MIT *Future of Solar Energy* study.

## Background

- Taiwanese-American, born and raised in Ohio.
- Stanford undergrad → MIT EECS PhD.
- Before Swift, Executive Director of the Tata-MIT GridEdge Solar research program.
- Co-author of the [MIT Future of Solar Energy](https://energy.mit.edu/research/future-solar-energy/) study (2015).
- Forbes 30 Under 30 in Energy.
- Co-founded Swift Solar in 2017.

## Swift Solar

- Mission: unlock the full potential of solar energy.
- Building the next generation of US solar manufacturing.
- Develops perovskite-silicon tandem solar cells designed to break through the efficiency limits of conventional silicon.
- In March 2026, acquired Meyer Burger's HJT manufacturing assets and IP, combining American perovskite technology with German silicon expertise to scale gigawatt-scale US solar manufacturing.
- Named to TIME's Top GreenTech list three years running (2024, 2025, 2026).
- Closed a $27M Series A in June 2024, led by Eni Next and Fontinalis Partners.

## Selected writing

- [Silicon Today, Tandems Tomorrow](https://www.swiftsolar.com/news/silicon-today-tandems-tomorrow) — Mar 2026, on the Meyer Burger acquisition.
- [AGI will be solar powered: Part I](https://www.swiftsolar.com/news/agi-will-be-solar-powered-part-i) — Oct 2025.
- [AGI will be solar powered: Part II](https://www.swiftsolar.com/news/agi-will-be-solar-powered-part-ii) — Nov 2025.
- [Why America's largest tower company is betting on next-generation solar](https://www.swiftsolar.com/news/why-americas-largest-tower-company-is-betting-on-next-generation-solar) — Jun 2025.
- [Partnering with Eni Plenitude to unlock US utility-scale perovskite solar deployment](https://www.swiftsolar.com/news/partnering-with-eni-plenitude-to-unlock-us-utility-scale-perovskite-solar-deployment) — Nov 2025.
- [Introducing Swift Solar](https://medium.com/swift-solar/introducing-swift-solar-5539f9af583d) — Apr 2019, founding-day post.

## Selected research

- [Pathways for solar photovoltaics](https://pubs.rsc.org/en/content/articlelanding/2015/ee/c4ee04073b) — Energy & Environmental Science, 2015.
- [The Future of Solar Energy: An Interdisciplinary MIT Study](https://energy.mit.edu/research/future-solar-energy/) — MIT Energy Initiative, 2015.
- [Synthesis cost dictates the commercial viability of lead sulfide and perovskite quantum dot photovoltaics](https://pubs.rsc.org/en/content/articlelanding/2018/ee/c8ee01348a) — Energy & Environmental Science, 2018.
- [Emerging Photovoltaic Technologies](https://iopscience.iop.org/book/mono/978-0-7503-2152-5) — IOP Publishing book, 2020.
- [Historical and future learning for the new era of multi-terawatt photovoltaics](https://www.nature.com/articles/s41560-025-01929-z) — Nature Energy, 2026.
- Full list: [Google Scholar](https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=zN-WJs4AAAAJ&hl=en).

## Talks and podcasts

- [Volts (David Roberts) — What's the deal with perovskite solar?](https://www.volts.wtf/p/whats-the-deal-with-perovskite-solar) — Jul 2024.
- [My Climate Journey — Startup Series: Swift Solar](https://mcj.vc/inevitable-podcast/swift-solar) — Apr 2021.

## Links

- Site: https://joeljean.com
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/joeljean/
- X: https://x.com/joeljean9
- Google Scholar: https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=zN-WJs4AAAAJ&hl=en
- Swift Solar: https://www.swiftsolar.com