Indoor solar

Researchers at the University of Queensland and Southwest University have developed a vapor-based fabrication strategy for lead-free tin-based halide perovskite (THP) indoor solar cells, addressing challenges in crystallization control while achieving high efficiency under low-light conditions.

A central challenge in thermally evaporated THP films is their complex and poorly controlled crystallization kinetics, which often leads to defects and performance losses. To overcome this, the team introduced formamidine acetate (FAAc) as a vapor-deposited additive during the formation of FASnI₂Br films. FAAc coordinates with SnI₂ to form a metastable SnI₂-FAAc intermediate phase. This intermediate slows and regulates the solid-state reaction pathway, allowing more controlled crystal growth. At the same time, FAAc reduces the surface free energy of the underlying SnI₂ layer, enabling more uniform deposition of the subsequent FABr layer. This dual effect - kinetic regulation and improved film wetting - results in higher-quality perovskite films with fewer defects and significantly suppressed trap-assisted recombination.

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.

Researchers from the University of Ljubljana have reported one of the longest continuous indoor studies of perovskite solar cells (PSCs) to date, tracking their performance and environmental behavior across a 2.5-year real-world deployment. The team evaluated sixteen small-area devices based on a double-cation, double-halide perovskite composition, using self-powered Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) monitoring nodes placed in occupied indoor environments. This work provides new insight into long-term stability challenges under realistic lighting conditions - an area of growing importance as perovskite photovoltaics move toward integrated, low-power IoT applications.

Over the study period, the PSCs were monitored in multiple indoor locations under varying illumination spectra, temperatures, and relative humidity. The results revealed lifetimes ranging from 70 to 522 days, underscoring the large variability in perovskite stability under actual use conditions. Importantly, device degradation showed a measurable correlation with ambient humidity, suggesting that moisture management remains a key reliability bottleneck, even in controlled indoor environments.

BiLight Innovations has launched three flagship innovations at CES: a flexible and lightweight rollable photovoltaic (PV) curtain, a lithium-free perovskite electronic nameplate and a portable solar scroll.

Targeting core home and office scenarios, these products aim to redefine the boundaries of traditional photovoltaic applications. Through technological breakthroughs in flexibility, battery-free design, and scenario-based integration, the launch has attracted widespread attention across the show floor.

Earlier this year, researchers from Brazil's UNICAMP and Italy's CHOSE (Centre for Hybrid and Organic Solar Energy) of the University of Rome “Tor Vergata” and the National Research Council of Italy (ISM-CNR) developed perovskite solar cells that exhibit excellent performance in transforming artificial light into electricity in indoor environments. These devices could provide clean and renewable energy for appliances used in homes, businesses, or industries, without the need for batteries.

In this work, the team developed an innovative surface treatment for the perovskite layer. “Under indoor lighting conditions (1000 lux, 500 lux, and 200 lux), our treatment substantially reduces interfacial trapping states, allowing for a performance of around 34% for low-bandgap perovskite modules. This performance is among the efficiency records reported in the literature,” says Francineide Lopes de Araújo, postdoctoral researcher at CINE and lead author of the work.

It appears that Garmin’s latest patent hints that future watches could pair AMOLED displays with solar layers that also harvest indoor light.

Image credit: Gadgets & Wearables

Current Garmin solar watches rely on silicon-based Power Glass, which performs well in strong, direct sunlight but delivers little benefit under shade or typical room lighting. Because indoor environments often sit at a few hundred lux - far below what silicon cells need to work efficiently - the impact on real-world battery life is limited.​ In the new patent, however, Garmin highlights perovskite and organic cells, as well as tandem configurations, which could be much better for indoor use. 

Halocell and First Graphene have signed an exclusive license agreement that highlights a significant boost for perovskite solar cell (PSC) performance and commercialization. The new deal centers on graphene-enhanced carbon paste already proven to improve Halocell’s perovskite modules, particularly for indoor and lightweight applications.​

Graphene-enhanced carbon paste (L); paste layer on a perovskite solar cell (R). Image credit: First Graphene

Under the 12‑month exclusive License Agreement, First Graphene will manufacture, market and sell the graphene-enhanced carbon paste globally, while Halocell will receive a 10% royalty on sales and continue to use the material in its commercially available PSCs. This builds on an earlier Joint Development Agreement and a CRC-P Partners Agreement under which the partners optimized graphene loading, formulation and processing for PSC carbon pastes.

Perovskite-Connect is the industry's top event series, offering a combination of exciting online webinars and a flagship annual on-site event. Our inaugural meeting will take place on 21-23 October 2025, at the Estrel Conference Centre, Berlin, Germany. Perovskite-Connect is co-organized by TechBlick and Perovskite-Info and offers the best way to connect with the global perovksite industry and market.

In this article, we will share a few short videos from past events. First up, we have Noctiluca’s Łukasz Sytniewski that earlier this year explained why the company identified the perovskite solar industry as the key next market for the company, and detailed its new material R&D activities.

Canada-based Solaires Enterprises has announced the shipment of its first paid customer order from its mass manufacturing facility with SEI, a joint venture in China between Solaires Enterprises and Genesis Technologies.

This delivery of Solaires’ perovskite-based PVModules marks a significant milestone in the company’s journey from R&D to commercial scale. Solaires stated that this shipment is just the beginning as it and SEI ramp up production efforts. The modules were shipped to a global manufacturer of electronic devices for use in
different sensor applications.

Researchers from China's Soochow University recently addressed the issue of long-term stability of perovskite indoor photovoltaics (PIPVs), by using a hybrid-interlocked self-assembled monolayer (SAM) strategy to enhance device stability by improving film coverage. 

This approach capitalizes on the crucial role of SAM stability in determining the overall stability of inverted PIPV devices. By combining SAM materials with different carbon chain lengths, they effectively increased the SAM surface coverage on indium tin oxide (ITO) substrates and strengthened the binding energy between the SAM and ITO.