Photovoltaic Material Enhancements

Improvements in the stability of perovskite over silicon tandem solar cells. "NUS researchers have developed a groundbreaking vapour-deposition method that dramatically improves the long-term and high-temperature stability of perovskite-silicon (Si) tandem solar cells. This is the first time vapour deposition has been successfully applied to industrial micrometre-textured silicon wafers, the actual wafer structure used in commercial solar cells manufacturing, marking a major milestone for translating laboratory-scale tandem solar cells into real-world products. The new method enables conformal, high-quality perovskite growth on industrial micrometre-scale textured silicon wafers, a critical requirement for mass production, and delivers more than 30 per cent power-conversion efficiency with operational stability far exceeding 2,000 hours, including T₉₀ lifetimes — the time taken for performance to drop to 90 per cent of initial output — of over 1,400 hours at 85 deg C under 1-sun illumination, a standard benchmark in solar energy representing a light intensity of 1000 watts per square metre. These results represent one of the most durable perovskite-Si tandem solar cells ever reported, validating a viable pathway toward commercial photovoltaic modules." https://lnkd.in/gb2vJNw8

Surface-Passivated Inorganic Perovskite Solar Cells via Stable 2D/3D Heterostructures, Nature Energy, 2025. https://lnkd.in/d9S47YKa This manuscript offers both fundamental insights into the formation of 2D/3D heterostructures in inorganic perovskites and a practical materials design strategy for developing stable, high-efficiency photovoltaic devices using a novel spacer cation, (perfluoro-1,4-phenylene)dimethanammonium, which doubles the cation desorption energy through optimized anchoring interactions, effectively suppressing thermal migration. The resulting CsPbI₃/(perfluoro-1,4-phenylene)dimethanammonium lead iodide heterostructures achieve power conversion efficiency of 21.6%.

Scientists in Germany have pushed solar technology to a new level by developing a cell that achieves an unprecedented 47 percent efficiency under standard sunlight conditions. This marks a dramatic leap compared to the roughly 20–22 percent efficiency of today’s best commercial silicon panels. Such a breakthrough has the potential to significantly reduce the cost of solar electricity worldwide, making renewable energy more accessible and accelerating the transition away from fossil fuels. The development represents not just an incremental improvement, but a structural shift in how efficiently sunlight can be converted into usable power. The innovation is based on a perovskite-silicon tandem design that layers two different materials to capture a broader portion of the solar spectrum. The upper perovskite layer absorbs high-energy wavelengths, while the lower silicon layer captures lower-energy light that passes through. This dual-layer approach allows the cell to utilize more incoming solar energy than either material could alone. Researchers estimate that the theoretical efficiency limit for this structure could reach over 50 percent, indicating that further advancements are still possible as materials and manufacturing techniques continue to improve. Beyond efficiency, production advantages make this technology especially promising. Perovskite materials can be processed at lower temperatures and with less energy than traditional silicon, potentially reducing manufacturing costs significantly. As companies prepare for commercial rollout in the coming years, the focus will shift toward durability, scalability, and long-term performance. If these challenges are successfully addressed, this innovation could redefine the economics of solar power and play a central role in global clean energy expansion.

Advancements in 3D/2D perovskite interface engineering for #perovskite solar cells. The integration of 2D capping layers on top of 3D-perovskites has long promised improved stability and suppressed ion migration. Yet, the randomly oriented, mixed-phase nature of these 2D layers has remained a bottleneck, compromising charge extraction, interface ferroelectricity, and ultimately the device fill factor. The team of Thomas Anthopoulos, with several collaborators, presented a meta-amidinopyridine (MAP) ligand that, in combination with a controlled IPA post-dripping protocol, generates a highly ordered, phase-pure 2D perovskite atop the 3D absorber. The benefits of this approach are: - A stronger ligand–surface binding enables structural reconstruction without dissolving the 2D layer. - Enhanced ferroelectric alignment at the 3D/2D interface, which improved the electric field. - A higher PCE compared to the references. The solar cells reached a certified PCEs of 25.44% with FFs exceeding 85% and show robust outdoor and thermal stability (75–82% PCE retention after 800–1000h). PAIOS from FLUXiM AG was used to perform CELIV, TPV, and photo-CV measurements under controlled light and bias conditions, allowing for a precise quantification of carrier mobility, lifetime, and interfacial recombination. These measurements were critical to correlate the improved interface reconstruction with suppressed non-radiative losses and enhanced charge extraction. This work sets a clear benchmark for phase-pure 2D/3D interface engineering and shows how post-treatment strategies can tune structure at the molecular level to unlock photovoltaic performance and durability. https://lnkd.in/e3sDfZ9F #research #perovskites #solarcells #solarpv #efficiency #photovoltaics

𝗣𝗮𝗽𝗲𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻 𝗦𝗼𝗹𝗮𝗿 𝗙𝗶𝗹𝗺𝘀 𝗪𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗥𝗲𝗰𝗼𝗿𝗱 𝗘𝗳𝗳𝗶𝗰𝗶𝗲𝗻𝗰𝘆...!!! Breakthrough in Ultra-Thin Solar Films by Swiss Scientists In a laboratory in Lausanne, Switzerland, a team of materials engineers has achieved a significant leap in solar technology. They have developed an ultra-thin photovoltaic film, less than two microns thick, capable of producing electricity at a conversion efficiency above 30%. This is nearly double the efficiency of commercial rooftop panels, while being 100 times lighter. The material is based on perovskite-on-silicon tandem structures, but with a novel deposition method that replaces expensive vacuum processes with a roll-to-roll manufacturing system. This enables the production of continuous sheets of solar film, each embedded with microscopic light-trapping structures. One of the greatest challenges—stability—was tackled by incorporating a hybrid passivation layer that prevents moisture and oxygen from degrading the perovskite. The films maintained 95% of their efficiency after 1,000 hours of accelerated weather testing, setting a new durability benchmark. Because the films are extremely light, they can be applied to curved surfaces, lightweight drones, electric vehicles, and even clothing. For large-scale infrastructure, they could be laminated onto existing building materials without altering their structure. The Swiss research group is now working with European aerospace companies to test the films in high-altitude, low-temperature environments, where they could power satellites or stratospheric observation platforms. If scaled, this technology could redefine global solar deployment by making high-efficiency energy harvesting possible almost anywhere, with minimal structural requirements. #solarfilm #solarenergy #Solarpanel #Renewableenergy #solarpower

https://lnkd.in/dmg2b5Z4 The Importance of Understanding Surface Passivation in Perovskite Materials Perovskite materials, especially the cubic α-CsPbI₃ phase, have attracted significant attention as promising candidates for next-generation solar cell technologies. Their optimal electronic band gap of 1.7 eV allows for efficient light absorption and energy conversion, making them ideal for photovoltaic applications. However, a major challenge limits their practical use: structural instability. For example, under operational conditions, α-CsPbI₃ tends to undergo a phase transformation into the hexagonal δ-CsPbI₃ phase, which has a much larger band gap of approximately 2.9 eV, rendering it unsuitable for solar energy harvesting. Thus, addressing this instability is critical for advancing the deployment of perovskite-based solar cells. One effective approach to mitigate this issue is surface passivation, which involves coating the material’s surface to reduce defects and enhance stability. Recent research by the QTNano group at the São Carlos Institute of Chemistry, in collaboration with the Federal University of São Carlos (Matheus P. Lima), has explored this strategy in detail. In the study "Elucidating Black α-CsPbI₃ Perovskite Stabilization via PPD Bication-Conjugated Molecule Surface Passivation: Ab Initio Simulations (ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces, 2024)", out team investigated the potential of using p-phenylenediamine (PPD) molecules as passivation agents. Through state-of-the-art density functional theory (DFT) simulations, we demonstrated that PPD passivation not only enhances the stability of α-CsPbI₃ but also preserves its crucial optoelectronic properties. Surface passivation is vital for stabilizing perovskite materials. It reduces structural distortions and minimizes surface defects that often act as degradation pathways. In this study, PPD molecules formed covalent-dominated bonds with the surface of α-CsPbI₃, contrasting with the ionic bonds typical of the bulk material and the natural Cs-based passivation. The covalent interaction provided by PPD is significantly stronger, resulting in negative surface formation energies that indicate superior stability. This robust bond ensures that the cubic phase is resistant to the phase transformation that otherwise undermines its performance in solar cells. This work was possible due to the work done by José Eduardo González Mireles, João Gabriel Danelon, Juarez L. F. Da Silva 🇧🇷, and Matheus Paes Lima. For additional details, please, check the researchgate.

Japan’s latest solar innovation focuses on integrating energy generation directly into everyday building materials, allowing windows themselves to produce electricity without changing how they look or function. The technology works by capturing ultraviolet and infrared wavelengths of sunlight while allowing visible light to pass through, which means buildings can still receive natural daylight while quietly generating clean energy. Researchers and companies such as inQs are developing these transparent photovoltaic systems with efficiency levels already approaching 10%, and engineers are aiming to push this closer to 15% as the materials improve. Urban planners see enormous potential in dense cities where rooftop space for solar panels is limited, since covering skyscraper windows with power-producing glass could dramatically increase renewable energy generation. Architects and sustainability experts believe solar-integrated building facades could become a major component of future carbon-neutral cities, turning millions of square meters of unused glass into decentralized energy infrastructure. #SolarInnovation #CleanEnergyFuture #GreenTechnology #RenewableEnergy #SustainableCities #SolarWindows

PLASMONIC ENHANCED SUBNANOSCALE ARCHITECTURES IN ENERGY-EFFICIENT AND OPTO-ELECTRONIC DEVICES The convergence of plasmonically engineered architectures with halide perovskites and semiconducting materials is redefining the landscape of next-generation photovoltaic and photonic devices. By embedding subnanoscale metallic nanoparticles and plasmonic elements within perovskite absorber layers or adjacent transport interfaces, they can achieve dramatic enhancements in light harvesting, carrier extraction, and spectral selectivity. These hybrid architectures exploit localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) to intensify near-field effects, extend absorption into the near-infrared, and boost exciton dissociation and charge mobility, capabilities critical for surpassing the Shockley–Queisser limit. The incorporation of gold, platinum, and silver nanoparticles, in both spherical and anisotropic forms, into lead-free halide double A₂M(I)M(III)X₆ perovskites, improve overall photon harvesting at the diffraction limit, facilitating coherent light manipulation, hot-carrier generation, and spectral tuning for tandem architectures. As well as their integration into halide double perovskites like Cs₂AgBiBr₆ templates and microfluidic confinement used togerther presents a robust and tunable platform for advancing energy-efficient, quantum-capable photonic computing. These engineered structures support the formation of exciton–polariton condensates, a room-temperature Bose–Einstein–like quantum state with ultrafast nonlinear optical properties, such as coherent scattering, bistability, and polariton lasing, allow for low-threshold switching, spectral multiplexing, and light-driven logic, foundational for photonic computation. In traditional polariton systems, strong coupling occurs between excitons and confined cavity photons. Plasmonic subnanoscale materials and their architectures introduce an alternative or complementary route via surface plasmon polaritons (SPPs). These are collective oscillations of conduction electrons at the metal–dielectric interface that couple with excitons in nearby perovskite layers to form exciton–plasmon polaritons (EPPs). When perovskite crystals are grown under these conditions, they support strong coupling between excitons and cavity photons, forming exciton–polaritons. Under appropriate pumping conditions, these polaritons undergo Bose–Einstein condensation, leading to macroscopic quantum coherence at room temperature, nonlinear emission phenomena, such as superfluid-like light flow, bistability, and polariton lasing, and ultrafast optical switching and low-threshold coherent light sources. The presence of plasmonic architectures can further modulate the polariton dispersion, enhance light–matter coupling strength, and enable subwavelength confinement of the condensate.

🌞🔬 𝗦𝗼𝗹𝗮𝗿-𝗚𝗘𝗖𝗢: 𝗔 𝗡𝗲𝘄 𝗔𝗜 𝗕𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗸𝘁𝗵𝗿𝗼𝘂𝗴𝗵 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗣𝗲𝗿𝗼𝘃𝘀𝗸𝗶𝘁𝗲 𝗦𝗼𝗹𝗮𝗿 𝗖𝗲𝗹𝗹𝘀 Perovskite solar cells hold enormous promise for next-generation photovoltaics — but finding the best material combinations remains a massive scientific challenge. A new study by Lucas Li, Jean-Baptiste PUEL, Florence Carton, Dounya Barrit, Ph.D, and Jhony H. Giraldo introduces 𝗦𝗼𝗹𝗮𝗿-𝗚𝗘𝗖𝗢, a multimodal AI model that significantly improves the prediction of power conversion efficiency (PCE). ✨ 𝗧𝗵𝗿𝗲𝗲 𝗸𝗲𝘆 𝘁𝗮𝗸𝗲𝗮𝘄𝗮𝘆𝘀 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗽𝗮𝗽𝗲𝗿: 1️⃣ 𝗖𝗼𝗺𝗯𝗶𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗮𝘁𝗼𝗺𝗶𝗰 𝗴𝗲𝗼𝗺𝗲𝘁𝗿𝘆 & 𝗱𝗲𝘃𝗶𝗰𝗲 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗲𝘅𝘁 Solar-GECO uniquely merges 𝟯𝗗 𝗰𝗿𝘆𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗹 𝘀𝘁𝗿𝘂𝗰𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲 𝗶𝗻𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗺𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 from the perovskite absorber with 𝗟𝗟𝗠-𝗯𝗮𝘀𝗲𝗱 𝗲𝗺𝗯𝗲𝗱𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴𝘀 of the device layers (ETL, HTL, substrate, back contact). ➡️ The architecture diagram on page 4 shows how geometric GNN features and text embeddings are fused through a co-attention module. 2️⃣ 𝗖𝗼-𝗮𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗰𝗮𝗽𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲𝘀 𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿-𝗹𝗮𝘆𝗲𝗿 𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗮𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 The model leverages both 𝘀𝗲𝗹𝗳-𝗮𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗰𝗿𝗼𝘀𝘀-𝗮𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 to understand how atomic-scale features interact with layer-level chemistry — a critical aspect of real device performance. 3️⃣ 𝗦𝘁𝗮𝘁𝗲-𝗼𝗳-𝘁𝗵𝗲-𝗮𝗿𝘁 𝗮𝗰𝗰𝘂𝗿𝗮𝗰𝘆 As shown in Table 3 (page 8), Solar-GECO achieves the 𝗯𝗲𝘀𝘁 𝗠𝗔𝗘 (𝟮.𝟵𝟯𝟲) and the highest 𝗥² (𝟬.𝟰𝟭𝟴) among all tested models, outperforming semantic GNNs, CrabNet, and BERT-based baselines. It also provides 𝘄𝗲𝗹𝗹-𝗰𝗮𝗹𝗶𝗯𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝘂𝗻𝗰𝗲𝗿𝘁𝗮𝗶𝗻𝘁𝘆 𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗺𝗮𝘁𝗲𝘀, confirmed by the calibration plot on page 9. 🔍 𝗪𝗵𝘆 𝗶𝘁 𝗺𝗮𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿𝘀 This approach accelerates the screening of promising device architectures, reducing experimental cost and opening new paths for scalable photovoltaic innovation. To read more (Source): https://lnkd.in/etyPDUXv #AI #MaterialsScience #SolarEnergy #Perovskites #MachineLearning #DeepLearning #EnergyInnovation ☀️🔋

The Electron Transport Layer (ETL) is a key component in perovskite solar cells and similar optoelectronic devices. It is between the light-absorbing perovskite layer and the electrode, serving to efficiently extract and transport electrons while blocking holes. This selective charge transport reduces recombination losses, improving both the power conversion efficiency and stability of the device. Common materials for the ETL include metal oxides like titanium dioxide (TiO2), tin oxide (SnO2), and zinc oxide (ZnO), as well as organic semiconductors and novel materials like mesoporous MoS2. The ETL not only facilitates electron mobility but also acts as a protective barrier that stabilizes the interface and prevents degradation caused by environmental stress or photocatalytic reactions. The morphology and surface properties of the ETL, such as wettability, strongly influence the quality of the perovskite layer deposited above it. Better wetting and coverage lead to reduced defect sites and pinholes, enhancing charge transport and device performance. Optimizing ETL properties, such as through nanostructure engineering and material selection, is crucial for achieving high efficiency and long-term stability in flexible and rigid perovskite solar cells. In summary, the ETL’s functions include charge extraction, charge transport, recombination suppression, and interface stabilization, making it fundamental to the performance of next-generation photovoltaic technologies