Sofab Inks and Alpha Precision Systems (APS) have reported a 22.2% power conversion efficiency on a 30 × 30 cm perovskite solar module using a fullerene-free PIN architecture and slot-die coating. The result illustrates a potential pathway to narrow the gap between laboratory-scale device performance and production-scale perovskite module manufacturing.
Sofab Inks was founded around Tinfab, a tin-oxide nanoparticle ink engineered to function as an electron transport layer deposited directly on perovskite absorbers. Tinfab enables fullerene-free PIN device architectures and is designed for compatibility with scalable coating processes such as slot-die coating. In earlier work on flexible substrates, the Sofab team reported a champion device efficiency of 20.41%, demonstrating the material’s potential at lab scale.
Typical laboratory fabrication methods introduced challenges in translating this performance to manufacturing environments. Device architecture, materials, process conditions, and the shift from small-area deposition to large-area coatings all influence film formation, drying dynamics, and coating uniformity in ways that create a disconnect between small-scale validation and manufacturing outcomes. To systematically address these variables at production scale, Sofab Inks began a collaboration with APS, a developer of scalable, thin-film coating equipment.
APS integrated Tinfab into its 30 × 30 cm slot-die coating platform, representative of production-scale tools. This setup allowed the two companies to fabricate complete perovskite modules in-house and to systematically vary device stacks and process parameters directly on production-scale hardware. Through multiple optimization cycles, the partners reached a champion efficiency of 22.2% as active area at 30 × 30 cm modules using a fullerene-free PIN structure.
According to Sofab Inks, the ability to iterate materials and process conditions directly on manufacturing-relevant equipment was key to reproducing high efficiencies outside the lab. Slot-die coating, where APS has extensive experience, is regarded as a promising deposition technique for scaling perovskite manufacturing, and Tinfab was formulated specifically for solution processing via such methods.
Tin-oxide transport layers such as Tinfab offer several potential advantages for scalable perovskite modules, including favorable band alignment for electron extraction, high optical transparency and good chemical stability under illumination and heat. As an inorganic, solution-processable ETL, Tinfab may also support improved stability, lower material cost and better compatibility with high-throughput manufacturing, while enabling the replacement of fullerene-based layers such as C60.
Following the reported 22.2% module result, Sofab Inks and APS are conducting joint development programs with solar manufacturers. The partners aim to combine Sofab’s materials portfolio with APS coating and vacuum-drying expertise and customer-specific device architectures, in order to evaluate new materials directly under manufacturing conditions and help accelerate the transition of perovskite solar technologies from laboratory demonstrations to commercial production.
In a subsequent joint fabrication, the partners also subjected Tinfab-based modules to 85°C/85% relative humidity (85/85) damp-heat testing at the APS facility. The Tinfab modules maintained roughly 20% higher performance than comparable C60-based control devices throughout most of the test period, with one module retaining 96% of its initial efficiency after 650 hours. These initial results highlight promising stability trends for fullerene-free device architectures under accelerated aging conditions.
