Global PV project developer and panel manufacturer, Renesola, recently held a groundbreaking ceremony for its 3GW PV module production factory in Longan District, Anyang City, Henan Province. The total investment for the project is approximately 3 billion yuan (almost USD$422 million).  

The first phase of the project will establish a 3GW photovoltaic module production line, along with essential production equipment such as frames, brackets, and welding strips, with the goal of creating a comprehensive photovoltaic industry chain. While this plant is not focused on perovskite-based PV, it is important to note that the second phase of ReneSola's Anyang base plans to establish a 2 GW Perovskite solar modules production line, covering an area of approximately 40,000 square meters. 

Researchers at Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) have fabricated an intermediate recombination layer (IRL) featuring a heavily doped boron/phosphorus polysilicon tunneling junction, with tunnel oxide passivated contact (TOPCon) silicon cells serving as the bottom cell for perovskite/TOPCon tandem solar cells (TSCs). 

In perovskite/silicon TSCs, the IRL is an important structure electrically connecting the top-side perovskite and bottom-side silicon sub-cells, significantly influencing the overall device performance. The traditional IRL often uses ITO materials to ensure high transmittance and good electrical properties, which, however, usually leads to issues such as sputtering damage and low temperature process limitations.

Hefei BOE Solar Technology has announced the successful production of the first 1.2m*2.4m perovskite solar module (in a line that was said to be completed in 38 days).

BOE said that its three major R&D platforms have all entered the first-class echelon of the industry, realized independent debugging of fully automatic intelligent production lines, and mastered the dry coating process. Currently, its glove box champion efficiency is 25.6%, and the experimental line champion efficiency is 20.63%.

The properties of 3D halide perovskites, such as mixed ionic–electronic conductivity and feasible ion migration, have enabled them to challenge traditional memristive materials. However, issues like poor moisture stability and difficulty in controlling ion transport due to their polycrystalline nature have hindered their use as a neuromorphic hardware. Recently, 2D halide perovskites have emerged as promising artificial synapses owing to their phase versatility, microstructural anisotropy in electrical and optoelectronic properties, and excellent moisture resistance. However, their asymmetrical and nonlinear conductance changes still limit the efficiency of training and accuracy of inference. 

Now, researchers from Seoul National University, Korea University, Sungkyunkwan University, Pohang University of Science and Technology and University of Southern California have achieved highly linear and symmetrical conductance changes in Dion–Jacobson 2D perovskites. 

While formamidinium lead triiodide (FAPbI₃) perovskite can be used to create highly efficient perovskite solar cells (PSCs), the thermodynamically unstable α-phase poses a challenge to device long-term stability. Thermal annealing is essential for producing high-quality polycrystalline films that stabilize the α-FAPbI₃ phase, but it also induces partial decomposition of FAPbI₃ into PbI₂, leading to extra phase instability of FAPbI₃ films.

Researchers from the University of Science and Technology of China, Chinese Academy of Sciences, NingboTech University and Nankai University have developed a zero dimensional (0D) perovskite-decorated strategy to enhance the intrinsic stability of FAPbI₃ film by stabilization of the initially formed α-FAPbI₃ phase. 

Researchers from City University of Hong Kong, National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) and Imperial College London have improved the long-term stability of perovskite solar cells with an atomic-layer deposition (ALD) method that replaces the fullerene electron transport layer with tin oxide. 

Professor Zhu Zonglong (left) and Dr Gao Danpeng of City University of Hong Kong hold their innovative solar cells. Image credit: Eurekalert

The team started by depositing the perovskite and the hole-transporter layer in a single step. Then, they used ALD to create an oxygen-deficient tin oxide layer to reduce the band offset to a thicker, overgrown layer of normal tin oxide. Solar cells had a power conversion efficiency of more than 25%, and they retained more than 95% of efficiency after 2000 hours of maximum power point operations at 65°C. 

Researchers from Thailand's Mahidol University, Rajamangala University of Technology Thanyaburi and Synchrotron Light Research Institute have presented two novel air-stable hole transporting materials (HTMs) based on a spiro[fluorene-9,9′-xanthene] (SFX) core functionalized with N-methylcarbazole (XC2-M) and N-hexylcarbazole (XC2-H) rings. 

These HTMs were synthesized via a straightforward, three-step process with good overall yields (∼40%) and low production costs. To further reduce device cost, carbon back electrodes were employed. The resulting PSCs, with a structure of FTO/SnO₂/Cs_0.05FA_0.73MA_0.22Pb(I_0.77Br_0.23)₃/HTM/C, achieved power conversion efficiencies (PCEs) of 13.5% (XC2-M) and 10.2% (XC2-H), comparable to the reference spiro-OMeTAD device (12.2%). 

Researchers from Sweden's Chalmers University of Technology recently gained new insights into the dynamics of prototypical 2D halide perovskites (HPs) based on MAPbI₃ as a function of linker molecule and the number of perovskite layers using atomic-scale simulations.

The team showed that the layers closest to the linker undergo transitions that are distinct from those of the interior layers. These transitions can take place anywhere between a few tens of Kelvin degrees below and more than 100 K above the cubic–tetragonal transition of bulk MAPbI₃. 

Together with his collaborators at Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin and Technical University of Berlin, Dr. Felix Lang from the University of Potsdam previously launched perovskite tandem solar cells into space to test their performance with extreme radiation levels and temperature cycles. Recently, he successfully received the first data from his experiment.

July 9, 2024 was the day of the maiden launch of the new Ariane 6 rocket from Guiana Space Centre by ESA. On-board a satellite was a special solar cell experiment. The satellite itself was successfully released one hour and six minutes after launch. “The solar cells have survived launch and started to produce energy, even without perfect alignment to the sun,” says Felix Lang, who celebrates this first success with his junior research group at the chair of Prof. Dr. Dieter Neher, funded by a Freigeist-Fellowship of the Volkswagen Foundation.

Jiangsu Xiehang Energy Technology (Fellow Energy/Xiehang Energy), a holding company of Turkey’s Chen Solar photovoltaic module and smart device manufacturer, has announced its plan to build a perovskite solar cell and module factory in Sichuan Province, China.

Fellow Energy had negotiated with the local government of Dechang County, Sichuan Province, for the construction of the project. It plans to build a solar cell factory to produce 2GW of perovskite-silicon tandem solar cells and 5GW of high-efficiency solar modules annually upon completion of the facility.