Flexibility

The EU-funded LUMINOSITY project is advancing the industrialization of flexible perovskite solar cell (PSC) technology, with a strong focus on scalability, sustainability, and real-world deployment. Coordinated by TNO (Netherlands Organization for Applied Scientific Research), the project brings together leading European research institutes, universities, and industrial partners to bridge the gap between laboratory-scale innovation and large-scale manufacturing.

LUMINOSITY - short for “Large area uniform industry compatible perovskite solar cell technology” - aims to enable commercially viable production of flexible perovskite photovoltaics using established industrial processes. Central to this effort is the adoption of roll-to-roll (R2R) manufacturing, targeting module efficiencies above 20% over areas exceeding 900 cm², while advancing the technology readiness level (TRL) to 7.

Japan will launch a government‑led demonstration project to deploy perovskite solar cells at Self‑Defense Forces (SDF) facilities, starting as early as this summer. According to Japanese media reports, the first installations are planned at SDF bases in Okinawa Prefecture, with the aim of creating early, large‑scale demand and accelerating the commercialization of domestic perovskite technologies.

The project will use lightweight, flexible perovskite modules that can be installed on a wide range of surfaces, including roofs and building walls, where conventional silicon panels are difficult to mount. By leveraging the extensive real estate of SDF bases, the government hopes to showcase practical use cases and validate durability, safety and performance in real‑world conditions.

Toyo Seikan Group Holdings, a Japanese packaging and materials company, has reached an agreement with Perovion Technologies (a spin-out company of TNO) and the Netherlands Organization for Applied Scientific Research (“TNO”) to establish a strategic technological and business partnership that aims to create a global market for perovskite flexible photovoltaic panel.

Perovion will be responsible for commercializing the perovskite solar cell manufacturing technology developed by TNO. Toyo Seikan Group Holdings and its technology development partner TNO have been advancing the mass customization of integrated photovoltaic systems in Europe since 2025. These systems are centered on MiraNeo®, the Toyo Seikan Group Holdings brand of functional materials for electronic devices. Through the new three-way partnership, Toyo Seikan Group Holdings will further accelerate its business expansion in the perovskite solar panels field.

Perovskite manufacturer Renshine Solar is developing what it describes as the ‘world’s largest’ perovskite building-integrated photovoltaic (BIPV) rooftop project.

Renshine Solar’s BIPV rooftop project at the former Shanghai Boiler Factory workshop

The installation will use around 6,000 perovskite modules across a 4,000 m² rooftop at the former Shanghai Boiler Factory workshop. The company said its lightweight and flexible modules can be customized in color and size to meet architectural design requirements for BIPV applications.

In a first for Japan, a pioneering experiment is underway to grow rice under a canopy of perovskite-based solar cells, targeting two of the nation’s most pressing challenges: food sustainability and clean energy.

The project officially began with a ceremonial rice planting on May 11 at Chiba University’s Kashiwanoha Campus in Kashiwa. It explores the concept of “solar sharing” by installing thin, flexible perovskite solar panels above a rice paddy. The initiative aims to generate electricity while cultivating crops on the same land, potentially increasing farm income while contributing to climate goals.

Researchers at Jilin Jianzhu University, Harbin Institute of Technology, Nankai University and Sichuan University of Science & Engineering have developed a fully integrated wearable platform that combines flexible perovskite solar cells (FPSCs) with multifunctional graphene-based sensors, enabling simultaneous energy harvesting and real-time self-evaluation.

Wearable flexible solar cells have traditionally functioned solely as power sources, lacking the ability to monitor their own condition or provide feedback on performance degradation. This limitation makes it difficult to determine issues such as mechanical damage or optimal replacement timing. The team addressed this gap by integrating laser-induced graphene (LIG) sensors directly with a flexible perovskite solar cell on a single polyimide (PI) substrate, creating a monolithic system capable of both energy conversion and multi-parameter sensing.

A team of researchers, led by the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), has developed a generalizable strategy to control crystallization kinetics in all-perovskite tandem solar cells, enabling certified power conversion efficiencies of 30.3% in rigid devices and 28.0% in flexible configurations.

Synchronized crystallization drives efficient rigid and flexible perovskite tandems. Image credit: NIMTE

All-perovskite tandems can enable high efficiency and compatibility with low-temperature solution processing. However, their performance has been consistently limited by asynchronous crystallization in multicomponent perovskite systems. This effect arises from mismatched coordination chemistry and crystallization rates among mixed halide systems and Pb²⁺/Sn²⁺ cations, leading to vertical compositional gradients, structural inhomogeneity, and elevated non-radiative recombination losses.

Hefei Puskey New Energy Technology has announced that its CVD dry process pilot line has successfully completed its first production run on a 300 mm × 300 mm large-area PET substrate. The company also revealed that the first flexible perovskite solar module produced using a fully CVD dry process has rolled off the line.

The newly produced module is based on Puskey’s proprietary coherent vapor phase (CVD) deposition technology. Unlike conventional solution-based methods, this dry process eliminates the need for organic solvents, offering a cleaner and more controllable manufacturing route. The resulting modules combine several advantages, including high power-to-weight ratio, improved stability, uniformity over large areas, and potentially lower production costs.

Researchers from Nanyang Technological University (NTU) have demonstrated fully vacuum‑processed ultrathin perovskite solar cells with MAPbI₃ absorber layers down to around 10 nm, achieving multi‑percent efficiency together with high transparency for building‑integrated use.

The team thermally evaporated MAPbI₃ in a planar p–i–n architecture and varied the absorber thickness from about 10 nm to several hundred nanometers. Devices with 10 nm, 30 nm, and 60 nm layers reached power conversion efficiencies of roughly 7%, 11%, and 12%, respectively, with open‑circuit voltage and fill factor remaining comparable to conventional 300–900 nm “bulk” devices, indicating low trap density and good optoelectronic quality.

TNO has announced the successful application of a perovskite solar module on foil to a roof tile. In doing do, the Dutch research organization has taken a step toward embedding solar generation directly into building materials.

Perovskite solar roof tile. Image credit: TNO

The test modules reached efficiencies of up to 13.8%, and even after installation on a curved composite roof tile, maintained 12.4% efficiency. These results show that bending the flexible perovskite foil has only a minimal impact on performance, highlighting the suitability of this technology for real-world architectural applications.