Active Surfaces Joins Amazon Sustainability Accelerator to Unlock 40 TWh of New Solar Potential
Woburn, MA — September 23, 2025 — Active Surfaces, a solar startup spun out of MIT, has been selected to join the Amazon Sustainability Accelerator, a flagship program supporting breakthrough technologies that can drive measurable impact across energy, water, and waste systems.
Active Surfaces develops ultra-thin, flexible solar sheets that can turn previously unusable rooftops, walls, and infrastructure into clean power plants. Unlike traditional silicon modules that rely on heavy glass and aluminum, Active Surfaces’ perovskite-based solar films are 10× lighter and install using simple adhesives—no racking or penetrations required. The technology uses 10× less material while maintaining comparable efficiency, enabling solar to reach buildings that can’t support conventional panels.
Selected from over 550 applicants worldwide, Active Surfaces joins a global cohort of 11 companies advancing practical, scalable solutions for decarbonization. As part of the program, the company will collaborate with Amazon’s European operations to explore pilot deployments that demonstrate how flexible solar can reduce installation labor, speed deployment, and unlock new surfaces for renewable generation.
“We believe our approach to tackling rooftop solar’s biggest pain point—soft costs—is both differentiated and pragmatic,” said Shiv Bhakta, Co-Founder & CEO of Active Surfaces. “Partnering with Amazon gives us the opportunity to prove that lightweight, scalable solar can power the next wave of climate-driven infrastructure—from logistics hubs to data centers.”
If deployed at scale across the rooftops Amazon manages globally, Active Surfaces’ technology could generate up to 40 TWh of clean electricity annually—enough to power the entire country of Portugal, equivalent to millions of homes and reduce CO₂ emissions by tens of millions of tons per year.
The Amazon Sustainability Accelerator, launched in 2022, has supported more than 70 startups developing climate solutions with real-world implementation potential. Last year’s cohort led to multiple pilot projects and over €750,000 in direct investment by Amazon to scale successful technologies.
Read the full announcement on About Amazon EU:
🔗 Amazon backs next wave of climate innovation: 11 companies join Sustainability Accelerator
About Active Surfaces
Active Surfaces is redefining distributed solar with a new class of ultra-light, flexible modules designed for rooftops and infrastructure that can’t support conventional panels. Built on over a decade of MIT research, the company’s perovskite solar technology delivers power-per-area on par with silicon and performs better in hot, dusty environments. Roll-to-roll manufacturing on commodity materials enables low-labor, scalable, and localized production. Active Surfaces is based in Woburn, MA, with partners across the U.S., Europe, and Asia.
