Current photovoltaic (PV) panels typically contain interconnected solar cells that are vacuum laminated with a polymer encapsulant between two pieces of glass or glass with a polymer backsheet. This packaging approach is common in conventional photovoltaic technologies such as silicon and thin-film solar modules, contributing to thermal management, mechanical reinforcement, and environmental protection to enable long lifetimes. Commercial vacuum lamination processes typically occur at 150 °C to ensure cross-linking and/or glass bonding of the encapsulant to the glass and PV cells. Perovskite solar cells (PSCs) are known to degrade under thermal stresses, especially at temperatures above 100 °C.

Researchers from NREL and The Dow Chemical Company have examined degradation modes during lamination and developed internal diffusion barriers within the PSC to withstand the harsh thermal conditions of vacuum lamination. 

A Research Group led by Prof. Eva Unger at Helmholtz Zentrum Berlin (HZB), in collaboration with the Indian Institute of Technology Bombay and University of Jammu, has reported the use of inkjet printing to fabricate thin films of combinatorial mixed formamidinium tin-lead perovskites and evaluated their layer quality and device performance. The team focused on optimizing the inkjet-printing process to ensure precise film deposition and enhance device performance.

Image credit: ACS Applied Materials and Interfaces

The scientists deposited Sn/Pb intermixed FASn_1–xPb_xI₃ (x = 0.25, 0.5, and 0.75)-based perovskite thin films through inkjet printing. The study focused on finding the ideal composition ratio for a favorable photovoltaic performance. The deposited FASn_1–xPb_xI₃ thin films were subjected to various characterizations followed by their implementation in solar cells. 

It was reported that Japan's Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) and the New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization (NEDO) have decided to support a demonstration project for perovskite solar cells conducted by Sekisui Chemical and Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings (HD). 

The total project cost is estimated at about 18.3 billion yen ( just under USD$119,000,000), with approximately 12.5 billion yen (around USD$81 million) to be subsidized through the Green Innovation (GI) Fund project. The project will verify installation methods, construction methods, and mass production technologies that take advantage of the unique characteristics of perovskite solar cells.

The certified efficiency of 1 cm² scale all-perovskite tandem solar cells tends to lag behind that of their small-area (~0.1 cm2) counterparts. This performance deficit originates from inhomogeneity in wide-bandgap (WBG) perovskite solar cells (PSCs) at a large scale. The inhomogeneity is thought to be introduced at the bottom interface and within the perovskite bulk itself. 

Researchers from Nanjing University, Jilin University, University of Cambridge, University of Victoria, The Australian National University, Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) and Renshine Solar (Suzhou) have reported an all-perovskite tandem solar cell based on a wide-bandgap top perovskite cell with a 20.5% efficiency. 

Researchers from the Universitat Internacional de Catalunya (UIC), University of Rome Tor Vergata and Université Crenoble Alpes have designed a Solar Brick (SB) based on textile ceramic technology (TCT) and perovskite photovoltaic cells. The new SB can be used for applications in building-integrated photovoltaics (BIPV). 

Textile Ceramic Technology (TCT) is an innovative construction system that consists of ceramic units installed in a grid of stainless steel wires. TCT has been patented in 2011. Its main application is to cover roofs, grounds, building façades and more. The team says: "One of the advantages of the system is the reduced time construction, since traditional ceramic claddings systems require a manual procedure on site in where the bricks are placed one by one joined by mortar. Moreover, the large length dimension of the shells makes possible to cover ground, façade and roof with the same element".

Researchers at the University of Tsukuba and Kyoto University have studied the internal properties of low-cost materials used in perovskite solar cells that use HND-2NOMe, a replacement hole-transport material to spiro-OMeTAD, using electron spin resonance (ESR) to analyze these materials at a microscopic level.

Chemical structures of hole-transport materials spiro-OMeTAD and HND-2NOMe. Image from: Communications Materials

The results clarify the underlying causes for reduced device performance, despite high local charge mobility, offering critical insights for designing improved solar cells. 

Zinc-ion batteries (ZIBs) are emerging as a candidate for use as an efficient and sustainable energy storage solution, offering advantages in terms of cost-effectiveness, safety, and performance. The key to commercializing ZIBs lies in developing cathode materials that offer high specific capacity and prolonged cycle performance. 

In a recent study, researchers from the Indian Institute of Science and University of Melbourne have demonstrated the capability of environmentally friendly, lead-free inorganic perovskites for high-rate rechargeable aqueous zinc-ion batteries with enhanced stability and excellent rate performance.

Researchers from China's Tianshui Normal University have reported a grain regeneration and passivation approach that can decrease the recombination loss of the perovskite layer/charge transfer layer interface and the grain border. 

Device manufacturing process. Image from: Scientific Reports

The team relies on guanidine iodide (GAI) treatment of perovskite films for this new approach. Unlike most methods that use GAI for post-treatment of the perovskite layer or add GAI into the perovskite precursor solution, this work uses GAI for pre-treatment before spin coating the perovskite layer. It can effectively passivate surface defects and increase the grain size of perovskite films by controlling the crystallization process. 

According to reports, Datong City is currently cooperating with companies such as CATL to promote the implementation of a 1.52 MW perovskite demonstration zone. After completion, the project will become the country's largest commercial perovskite ground photovoltaic project.

It was said that the installed capacity of new energy and renewable energy in Datong City has reached 9.29 million kilowatts, accounting for 53.7% of the city's total installed power capacity. It has also focused on promoting the construction of a 6 million kilowatt new energy base project in the northern Shanxi coal mining subsidence area with a total investment of nearly 40 billion yuan. After it is put into operation, it will be able to supply 10 billion kilowatt-hours of clean electricity to the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region every year.

Researchers from Konkuk University, Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology and Nanoenics have reported an improved crystallization of hybrid perovskite films achieved through the addition of a potent antioxidant derived from garlic, known as allicin. Oxidation of hybrid perovskite composed of organic–inorganic materials can cause significant problems in performance and stability of perovskite solar cells (PSCs), because the hybrid perovskite oxidation induces considerable decrease in crystallinity and quality of hybrid perovskites.

Defect sites within the hybrid perovskite film, which arise during annealing and ageing processes, were found to be effectively managed by the antioxidant properties of allicin, particularly at elevated temperatures. Acting as an in situ encapsulator for the hybrid perovskite, the antioxidant efficiently regulated defect sites by supplying protons and neutralizing free radicals.