Perovskite-Info: the perovskite experts

Imec, the leading research hub focused on nanoelectronics, energy and digital technologies and partner in EnergyVille, has been named the coordinator of an ambitious 3-year European Union (EU) funded project called "ESPResSo" (Efficient Structures and Processes for Reliable Perovskite Solar Modules), that gathers known leaders in the field of perovskite PV technology to revolutionize Europe's photovoltaics (PV) industry.

The ESPResSo consortium has been granted over 5 Million by the European Union to overcome the limitations of today's state-of-the-art perovskite PV technology, bring perovskite solar cells to the next maturity level, and demonstrate their practical application.

The Solar Energy Research Institute of Singapore (SERIS) at the National University of Singapore (NUS) has announced a new R&D goal to develop a commercially viable thin-film-on-silicon tandem solar cell with 30% conversion efficiencies.

SERIS researchers will collaborate with Nanyang Technological University (NTU) and Campus for Research Excellence and Technological Enterprise (CREATE) of NRF on both III-V and perovskite materials, while SERIS will develop optimized silicon bottom cells.

Researchers at Aalto University in Finland have designed a new, simplified method for testing solar cells based on perovskite and dye sensitized technologies for degradation. This presumably follows Aalto's findings from February 2018 regarding deficiencies in current aging tests performed on perovskite-based solar cells.

The researchers explain that their fast, low threshold photography method could detect even slight disintegration in a perovskite structure, with more reliable results than optical measurement devices, and lower complexity and labor requirements than more commonly used x-ray crystallography.

A joint team of researchers led by Professor Federico Rosei at the Institut national de la recherche scientifique (INRS), and Dr. Riad Nechache from École de technologie supérieure (ÉTS), both located in Montreal, Canada, have developed a composite perovskite thin film made of two different inorganic oxide materials that significantly improves the performance of solar cells.

The team demonstrated a cell in which the open-circuit voltage and short-circuit photocurrent are tunable by varying the electrical resistance of the device, which in turn is controlled by externally applying voltage pulses. This provides an alternative way of achieving highly stable, high-efficiency conversion.

A team of researchers led by Professor Biwu Ma from Florida State University demonstrated a new approach to building efficient and spectrally stable red perovskite LEDs. The team developed a simple solution processing method followed by thermal annealing to prepare highly luminescent ultra-smooth polymer–perovskite composite thin films with tunable emissions from red to deep-red.

Light emitting diodes (LEDs) incorporating inorganic, organic, or nanoscale materials are highly promising for solid-state lighting and displays. Despite the significant progress achieved in green emitting perovskite LEDs in recent years, blue or red emitting LEDs still remain a challenge with regards to their performance and spectral stability during operation.

Greatcell Solar has been awarded €500,000 in a European Union Horizon 2020 project known as H2020-SGA-FET-GRAPHENE. The grant to Greatcell's application has occurred through its 100% Italian subsidiary, Greatcell Solar Italy, located in Rome.

The H2020 project is for the innovative development and the installation of a Perovskite Solar Cell (PSC) 10m² array in the Greek island of Crete and aligns closely with Greatcell's existing technology development plan. Much of the work involved will investigate advanced technology for higher efficiencies, longer life and improved encapsulation of PSC enabled glass substrates, investigating in particular the usage of Graphene in PSC solar cells.

Solliance announced a new record stabilized average cell performance of 14.5% for its large thin-film perovskite photovoltaic modules on glass. The efficiency was measured on an aperture area of 144 cm².

The perovskite module was realized on a commercial 6x6 inch² glass substrate, a size comparable to standard commercial silicon solar cells. The substrate is provided with a transparent conductor, by applying three consecutive slot die coating processes and using a newly developed annealing process. The metal top electrode was evaporated. Twenty-four cells were series-connected through optimized laser-based scribes. Up to 95.3% of the modules area is covered with active material, resulting in a stabilized module efficiency of 13.8%.