Recent Perovskite News - Page 2

It was reported that solar equipment manufacturer Maxwell has reached a certified conversion efficiency of 32.5% of its perovskite-silicon heterojunction (HJT) tandem cell, as was reportedly verified by Fraunhofer ISE. This is an improvement over its previous record of 32.38%.

According to the company, the cell was produced on 110 µm industrial-grade silicon wafers using its mass-production equipment and processes. Maxwell attributed the gain to optimized perovskite passivation and development of low-damage TCO materials.

Researchers from Kyung Hee University and Hyundai Motor Group have developed an AI-based inverse design strategy that enables full-color, high-efficiency semitransparent perovskite solar cells for applications such as solar windows and vehicle glazing. The work introduces a modelling-guided framework that integrates all-dielectric multilayer coatings - composed of alternating zinc sulfide (ZnS) and magnesium fluoride (MgF₂) - into perovskite photovoltaics, allowing user-defined transmitted colors with minimal optical loss.

Photographs of semitransparent PVSK PVs. Left: uncoated Right: ZnS/MgF2-coated. Image from: Opto-Electronic Advances

Unlike conventional color-tuning methods that rely on metallic or absorptive films, the team’s approach employs transparent interference coatings designed through a digital optimization loop. Each layer sequence is encoded as a binary string and evaluated by a factorization machine-based surrogate model trained on optical simulations. The optimization, expressed as a quadratic unconstrained binary optimization (QUBO) problem, identifies the precise ZnS/MgF₂ configurations that meet specific color coordinates and average visible transmittance (AVT) targets.

Researchers from Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Wuhan University, DR Laser Technology (Wuxi), Hubei Optical Fundamental Research Center and Optics Valley Laboratory have developed a dipole-engineered passivation strategy that significantly boosts the performance and operational stability of all-perovskite tandem solar cells.

All-perovskite tandem architectures are considered promising photovoltaic platforms, but the SnPb narrow-bandgap subcell - a crucial component determining tandem efficiency - is limited by severe surface defect-induced recombination at the perovskite/C₆₀ interface. These interfacial defects lead to both reduced open-circuit voltage and unstable long-term performance, with most devices maintaining stability for less than 800 hours. To address this bottleneck, the researchers introduced methylpyridinium iodide (AMPYI₂) molecules as dipole-active interfacial passivators. 

A team of researchers from China has developed a new strategy that tackles crystallographic defects and impurities that cause non-radiative recombination, a key limiting factor for large-area, flexible perovskite photovoltaics. The team demonstrated in situ defect detection and laser-based repair to improve film quality across large areas.

In the new approach, regions with high densities of crystallographic defects and impurities were identified and visually depicted through photoluminescence quantum yield and Urbach energy measurements. A 450 nm laser was then used to precisely and rapidly repair these defective regions, leading to a significant reduction in defect content compared with pristine perovskite films.

Researchers from the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology and Harbin Engineering University have developed a crystal-solvate (CSV) pre-seeding strategy that significantly boosts both the efficiency and scalability of inverted perovskite solar cells (PSCs). The study demonstrates a new approach for regulating buried interfacial structures in solution-processed perovskite films - recognized as a major obstacle to stability and efficiency improvement.

Inverted PSCs, which reverse the conventional layer sequence by placing the hole-transport layer beneath the perovskite absorber, offer superior compatibility with scalable solution-processing methods. However, their performance has been limited by uncontrolled microstructure and electronic defects at the buried interface between the perovskite and the self-assembled monolayer (SAM). The new CSV pre-seeding method directly tackles this issue by introducing pre-deposited low-dimensional halide crystal-solvate (CSV) seeds - with the representative composition PDPbI₄·DMSO - onto SAM-modified substrates before perovskite deposition.

Researchers from the University of Oxford, The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST), RISE Research Institutes of Sweden, HZB and Université Grenoble Alpes (CEA) have developed a multi-source co-evaporation strategy that enhances the crystal quality of vacuum-deposited perovskite films. The team stated that this advance brings all vacuum-deposited single-junction perovskite cells as well as perovskite-on-silicon tandem solar cells closer to scalable production. 

Schematic of device architecture for all-vacuum-deposited WBG PSCs. Image from: Nature Materials

Many perovskite solar cells use solution “inks" in their design, while many industrial thin-film products (from OLED displays to optical coatings) are produced by vacuum deposition - a clean, solvent-free process that can coat large areas very uniformly. However, when perovskites are fabricated entirely by vacuum deposition, the crystals can form in less-than-ideal ways, leaving the films more defect-prone and significantly unstable.

Researchers from Spain's Materials Science Institute of Seville (CSIC-US) and the University of Seville recently developed a multifunctional fluorinated polymer (CFₓ) thin film deposited via plasma technology, enabling hybrid perovskite solar cells (PSCs) to harvest energy from both sunlight and raindrops while boosting environmental durability.

This room-temperature, solvent-free plasma process coats PSCs conformally up to 400 nm thick, delivering over 90% optical transparency that preserves champion power conversion efficiency (PCE) at 17.9%. The film's fluorine-rich groups (optimized to 36.4% CF₂ + CF₃ species) repel moisture, allowing cells to retain over 50% initial PCE after 10 days of high humidity-temperature stress and enabling compatibility with commercial UV-curable resins for 15-minute water immersion tolerance. As a triboelectric layer atop an FTO electrode, it converts raindrop kinetic energy via contact electrification and electrostatic induction in a drop-driven TENG (D-TENG) setup.

Researchers from China's Southern University of Science and Technology, Xi’an Jiaotong University, City University of Hong Kong, Eastern Institute of Technology and Shenzhen Polytechnic University have developed a new molecular engineering strategy that overcomes a known bottleneck in perovskite solar cell (PSC) interfaces - self-aggregation of hole-selective self-assembled monolayers (SAMs) leading to poor interfacial contact and energy loss.

While perovskite solar technology made great strides in recent years, fine control of interfacial chemistry remains one of the key challenges limiting long-term stability and reproducibility. Conventional hole-transport SAMs often suffer from excessive intermolecular interactions, causing aggregation and misaligned energy levels that degrade charge extraction.

According to reports, China-based Hefei Puskey New Energy Technology, in cooperation with a leading domestic automaker, successfully developed the first 300mm×300mm integrated perovskite curved automotive photovoltaic glass (CIPV). This marks a key advance in perovskite automotive photovoltaic technology in terms of integrated curved molding, large-area preparation and vehicle adaptability, providing a new solution for energy self-sufficiency in new energy vehicles.

The curved automotive perovskite photovoltaic glass utilizes the company's independently developed patented perovskite CVD dry process technology and integrated molding process for curved automotive glass. While maintaining a standard 300mm×300mm pilot-scale size, it achieves stable matching with the curvature of the vehicle body. Compared to other automotive photovoltaic systems, the curved perovskite photovoltaic glass, molded integrally with glass, boasts high light transmittance, high weather resistance, and high power generation efficiency. It can be directly integrated into curved areas such as roofs, sunroofs, and hoods, significantly improving adaptability. This adresses industrialization pain points such as uneven bonding of flexible perovskite films to glass, bubbling and wrinkling, poor adhesion, and excessive thickness affecting aesthetics. It can provide vehicles with a range extension of over 20 kilometers, driving a CIPV market scale of over 10GW.

First Solar has announced a patent licensing agreement that gives it access to existing issued patents and currently pending patent applications of Oxford Photovoltaics (“Oxford PV”).

The non-exclusive license paves the way for First Solar, a giant in the solar field and the world’s largest producer of thin film solar technology, to continue advancing its development of photovoltaic (PV) solar devices employing a perovskite semiconductor for potential applications in the US utility-scale, commercial and industrial and residential markets. The scope of the license covers the potential manufacturing and distribution of such products in the US and excludes crystalline silicon semiconductors. Other terms were not disclosed.