Researchers at Austria's Montanuniversitat Leoben and TU Wien have developed copper-doped perovskite-type oxide catalysts that improve the efficiency and durability of methanol steam reforming (MSR), a process used to generate hydrogen on demand for fuel cells. The catalysts require significantly less active copper than conventional industrial catalysts while operating at comparatively low temperatures with high hydrogen yield.

Methanol is gaining attention as a hydrogen carrier because it can be stored and transported as a liquid, is chemically stable at ambient pressure, and can be produced from renewable sources such as biomass or captured CO₂ combined with green hydrogen. Steam reforming releases the hydrogen bound in methanol, offering a route to decentralized, on-demand hydrogen production without extensive infrastructure - useful for portable fuel cells and small-scale refueling stations. Conventional Cu/ZnO/Al₂O₃ catalysts used for MSR, however, suffer from thermal instability, sintering and side reactions that reduce selectivity and durability over time.

Researchers at the University of Colorado Boulder's Renewable and Sustainable Energy Institute, led by Alex Zunger, working with the University of Sao Paulo, have shown that two simple structural measurements can predict how stable a halide perovskite alloy will be and what band gap it will have, without running a full quantum simulation for every composition.

Alloying is central to tuning perovskite light absorption and stability, but predicting which combinations of halogens, alkali metals and other elements will work has typically required slow, computationally expensive density-functional theory (DFT) calculations run one composition at a time. The team instead looked for structural descriptors that could stand in for those calculations. Running systematic DFT calculations across alloy families with substitutions at the halogen (X-site), alkali (A-site) and group-IV (B-site) positions, they found that the excess in cation-anion-cation (B-X-B') bond angles - a measure of how much the perovskite's octahedra are distorted - closely tracks the alloy's mixing enthalpy, an indicator of thermodynamic stability. Separately, the average cation-anion (B-X) bond length emerged as a reliable predictor of how the band gap shifts across the alloy series.

Researchers led by Distinguished Professor Seok Sang-il of the Department of Energy and Chemical Engineering at the Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology (UNIST) have identified the root cause of a defect that had been holding back the efficiency of inverted-structure perovskite solar cells, and used the finding to raise cell efficiency to 26.3% - matching what's typically achieved in conventional-structure cells. 

The inverted structure in particular has low light loss to the lower layer, which is why it's mainly used as the top cell in tandem solar cells combined with silicon. However, applying the high-efficiency material formulation developed for conventional-structure cells directly to the inverted structure had caused efficiency to plunge to around 18%. Using advanced analysis methods at the Pohang Accelerator Laboratory, the team traced the cause: methylammonium chloride (MACl), an additive that helps crystal growth in the conventional structure, instead induces defects when used in the inverted structure. On the hydrophobic organic material that forms the bottom layer of the inverted structure, the intermediate substance created by MACl escapes belatedly. During this process, gaps and cracks form at the buried interface - the bottom of the perovskite layer - which act as points where charge carriers are lost, reducing efficiency.

UtmoLight's 6.7 MW perovskite rooftop distributed PV project at Wanshan Lake Park was connected to the grid and put into operation on July 31, completing the project first announced in partnership with Wuxi Xingyuan Green Energy back in November 2025.

The project uses the roof resources of factory buildings in the park, with nearly 15,000 pieces of UtmoLight's own 2.81 m² perovskite PV modules installed. It operates under a "self-generation for self-use, with surplus power fed to the grid" model. 

High-performance film specialist i-Components has shared that it has supplied barrier film samples for perovskite solar cells to companies in Japan and China.

i-Components is pushing for mass production of products for perovskite solar cells by leveraging the experience it has built up in barrier films for displays. i-Components said it has supplied barrier film samples for perovskite solar cells to about 30 companies so far, without disclosing customer names, citing non-disclosure agreements. i-Components plans to expand supply by upgrading product specifications to meet each client's requirements.

Researchers from Guangdong University of Technology have developed a zinc-ion (Zn²⁺) modification strategy that improves both the efficiency and the stability of all-inorganic CsPbBr₃ perovskite solar cells.

All-inorganic CsPbBr₃ perovskites are known for their excellent environmental stability compared with hybrid organic-inorganic perovskites, since they avoid the organic cations (such as MA⁺ and FA⁺) that are prone to degrading under heat, moisture, oxygen and light. That stability comes at a cost, however: CsPbBr₃'s wide bandgap (about 2.3 eV) limits light harvesting, and its films typically suffer from low crystallinity and high defect density, which drive charge recombination and hold back power conversion efficiency (PCE).

GCL Optoelectronic Material (Kunshan GCL Optoelectronic Materials), a subsidiary of GCL Group, has completed a D1 financing round exceeding 100 million yuan (over US$14 million), led by Jinxin Capital, with Sequoia China, Xiang'an Venture Capital and Suzhou Asset Management participating. The company says the funds will primarily support the commercial delivery of its ground-mounted photovoltaic power stations and the verification of space photovoltaic applications.

The D1 round follows a Series C2 round completed in July 2025 that raised nearly 200 million yuan. Since its first angel round in May 2020, GCL Optoelectronics has attracted strategic investments exceeding one billion yuan from companies and institutions including CATL, TCL Group, Tencent, Temasek and Sequoia Capital.

The crowdfunding campaign for the DESLOC V150 Plus, a smart door lock powered by a SolaEon perovskite solar panel, has passed $500,000 in pledges. The V150 Plus was developed with Dessmann, DESLOC's parent-brand connection with 17 years of lock-engineering experience, and reached 100% of its funding goal within the first hour of launch.

The V150 Plus integrates SolaEon's perovskite solar panel directly into the lock body, allowing it to keep charging in the low, indirect light typical of shaded porches and covered entryways - conditions where conventional crystalline-silicon solar locks struggle to maintain a charge. Beyond the solar system, the lock includes dual cameras with 3D facial recognition, an AI-assisted fingerprint sensor, and a removable 10,000 mAh battery rated for up to eight months of backup operation without sunlight.

Perovskite Connect 2026 is set to be the industry's premier event, taking place on 21-22 October 2026 in Berlin, with a world-class agenda, exhibition and networking opportunities. Co-located with the Future of Electronics RESHAPED, Perovskite Connect will focus on the perovskite supply chain, solar applications, recent innovations, materials and processes.

In this article we will introduce some of our speakers and themes at the event. You can explore the full agenda and event details here.

PeroCycle has signed strategic partnerships with Chinese gas separation and purification company Beijing Peking University Pioneer Technology Corporation Ltd. (PKU Pioneer) and international engineering consultancy io consulting, aimed at accelerating the development and commercialization of its perovskite-based carbon recycling technology for foundation industries such as steel, cement and chemicals.

PeroCycle's technology, developed at the University of Birmingham, uses a perovskite catalyst to split CO₂ into carbon monoxide (CO) at significantly lower temperatures than conventional methods. The captured CO₂ is converted back into CO for reuse on site as a substitute for fossil-based reducing agents like coal and coke, creating a localized, closed-loop carbon economy that the company says can reduce carbon emissions in sectors like steelmaking by up to 90%. Because the technology can be retrofitted into existing facilities as well as built into new plants, PeroCycle positions it as a way to avoid both stranded assets and the high capital cost of new-build "green" plants.