# Joel Jean

> Joel Jean is Co-Founder and CEO of Swift Solar, the San Carlos, California-based company turning a decade of perovskite research into commercial solar panels that generate up to 30% more power than conventional silicon. A Taiwanese-American from Beavercreek, Ohio who went through Stanford (BS EE, with distinction) and MIT (SM and PhD EE, NSF Graduate Research Fellow), Jean co-authored the landmark MIT Future of Solar Energy study in 2015, then realized the only logical next step was to build the company the study described. Swift Solar, founded in 2017 with five other perovskite PhDs drawn from MIT, Stanford, Oxford, Cambridge, and NREL, has raised over $60M, deployed its panels in a live US Department of Defense exercise, earned TIME Top GreenTech recognition three consecutive years, and in March 2026 acquired Meyer Burger's HJT manufacturing assets to plant a full US solar supply chain.

- **Role:** Co-Founder and CEO at Swift Solar
- **Organizations:** Swift Solar, MIT Energy Initiative, Tata-MIT GridEdge Solar, MIT EECS Graduate Student Association, Fossil Free MIT
- **From:** Beavercreek, Ohio, United States
- **Nationality:** American
- **Education:** BS, Electrical Engineering (with distinction), Stanford University, SM, Electrical Engineering (NSF Graduate Research Fellow, MIT Energy Fellow), Massachusetts Institute of Technology, PhD, Electrical Engineering (advised by Vladimir Bulović), Massachusetts Institute of Technology
- **Known for:** Forbes 30 Under 30 Fellow in Energy, Business Insider Rising Stars of Clean Energy, 2017 Katerva Award for ultra-lightweight flexible solar cells

## Career timeline

- **2007-2011** — BS in Electrical Engineering at Stanford University; built computational models of electron transport in nanostructures
- **2011-2017** — SM and PhD at MIT EECS; NSF Graduate Research Fellow and MIT Energy Fellow; researched quantum dot, organic, and lightweight flexible solar cells under Prof. Vladimir Bulović
- **2015** — Co-authored the landmark MIT Future of Solar Energy study, a 30-expert report on expanding solar capacity to multi-terawatt scale
- **2015-2017** — Founding Executive Director of Tata-MIT GridEdge Solar program, scaling PV technologies for off-grid applications in India
- **2017** — Named Forbes 30 Under 30 in Energy; recognized by the 2017 Katerva Award for ultra-lightweight flexible solar cells
- **2017** — Co-founded Swift Solar in November 2017 alongside five perovskite PhDs from MIT, Stanford, Oxford, Cambridge, and NREL
- **2019** — MIT News highlighted Jean's photovoltaic techno-economic analysis research
- **2020** — Swift Solar featured in MIT News for developing lightweight solar panels using perovskite semiconductors
- **2021** — Joel Jean presented 'Perovskites at the Edge of Tomorrow' at US-MAP Consortium webinar
- **2024** — Swift Solar raised $27M Series A led by Eni Next and Fontinalis Partners (total funding exceeds $60M)
- **2024-2025** — Swift Solar named TIME Top GreenTech Company in America (2024, 2025, 2026)
- **2025** — Swift Solar completed first US deployment of perovskite tandem solar panels at DoD Cyber Fortress exercise in Virginia Beach
- **2026** — Swift Solar acquired Meyer Burger's HJT manufacturing assets, IP portfolio, and engineering team to scale US solar cell production

## Achievements

- Forbes 30 Under 30 Fellow in Energy
- Business Insider Rising Stars of Clean Energy
- 2017 Katerva Award for ultra-lightweight flexible solar cells
- Co-author of the MIT Future of Solar Energy study (2015)
- Named NSF Graduate Research Fellow at MIT
- Led Swift Solar to TIME Top GreenTech Company recognition (2024, 2025, 2026)
- First US deployment of perovskite solar technology with the US Department of Defense (2025)
- Raised over $60M across equity and government grants for Swift Solar
- Co-founded Swift Solar with six combined PhD founders holding over 80,000 research citations
- Acquired Meyer Burger's HJT manufacturing assets to build US solar supply chain (2026)

## Latest updates

- **2026-03** — Swift Solar acquired Meyer Burger's US HJT manufacturing assets, IP portfolio, and engineering team including former CEO Gunter Erfurt, positioning the company as a full-stack American solar manufacturer.
- **2025-08** — Swift Solar completed first real-world deployment of US-manufactured perovskite tandem solar at US DoD Cyber Fortress exercise in Virginia Beach, VA.
- **2024-06** — Swift Solar closed $27M Series A co-led by Eni Next and Fontinalis Partners, bringing total funding to over $60M.
- **2024-03** — TIME named Swift Solar one of the Top GreenTech Companies in America.

## Links

- Website: https://www.joeljean.com/
- LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/joeljean
- Twitter/X: https://twitter.com/joeljean9
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/joel.jean

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/joel-jean
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-05-12