Researchers from Huaqiao University, Gold Stone (Fujian) Energy Company, Beijing Huairou Laboratory and Kunshan Shengcheng Photoelectric Technology have reported a four-terminal (4T) perovskite-silicon solar cell with a perovskite-based top cell, with an energy bandgap of 1.67 and lower surface defects. 

Structure of the 4T perovskite/silicon tandem solar cells. Image from Nature Communications

The team integrated a wide-bandgap perovskite solar cell with a hybrid back contact device in a four-terminal tandem cell that achieves high efficiency and stability. The group used a new surface passivation strategy that reportedly helped gain the cell's strong performance.

Radiation detectors, which convert radiation into measurable light signals, currently come in fixed shapes like blocks or cylinders because they are made by growing crystals at extremely high temperatures – around 1700 °C. These rigid shapes make it difficult to measure radiation doses accurately around irregularly shaped tumors or in tight spaces. Previous attempts to create detectors in custom shapes have focused on plastic materials that can be easily molded, but these plastic detectors perform poorly because they lack the heavy elements needed to efficiently capture radiation. Scientists have tried mixing metal particles into plastics to improve their detection ability, but this often results in uneven distribution of the particles and poor overall performance.

A research team from several institutions in Italy and Switzerland has now developed a new approach using stereolithography (SLA), a precise form of 3D printing that builds objects by hardening light-sensitive liquid materials layer by layer. This marks the first successful use of SLA to fabricate 3D-printed scintillators, a breakthrough in radiation detection technology. The team mixed microscopic crystals of cesium lead bromide (Cs₄PbBr₆), a perovskite material, into a liquid resin that hardens when exposed to ultraviolet light. Perovskites have gained significant attention in recent years because they efficiently convert various forms of energy into light. Their crystal structure, which contains heavy elements like lead, makes them particularly effective at detecting radiation.

India-based Waaree Energies has announced a strategic CSR initiative with IIT Bombay towards advanced R&D of solar perovskite cells. The partnership will involve Waaree Energies and IIT Bombay jointly working on creation of an advanced fabrication and characterization setup for high-efficiency perovskite solar cells.

Through the initiative, Waaree Energies aims to inspire young scientists who are inclined towards clean energy in general and solar power in particular. Furthermore, the initiative will aim to serve as a role model towards innovation and sustainability in India’s next generation. The setup at IIT Bombay will provide a sophisticated platform for students and researchers to pioneer clean energy solutions, driving India’s position forward as a global leader in renewable technology.

Researchers at the Canadian University of Saskatchewan recently gained insight as to why solar cells made with lead halide perovskite degrade prematurely. These discoveries could advance the reliability these solar cells.

In experiments conducted at the Canadian Light Source (CLS) synchrotron, Dr. Tim Kelly, a professor of chemistry at USask, sought to determine why perovskite-based solar cells fail under certain conditions. The researchers initially suspected that the issue lay in the perovskite formulation. By employing X-ray diffraction to analyze the material’s atomic structure in real-time, the team observed that humidity played a critical role in cell degradation. Moisture caused ions within the perovskite to mobilize, migrate to the electrode, and corrode it, rendering the device inoperative.

Researchers from the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), Beihang University and Imperial College London have developed an on-chip integrated polarization photodetector (pol-PD), drawing inspiration from the unique polarization vision of desert ants.

Working mechanism diagram of the single-shot on-chip pol-PD. Image from Science Advances

Pol-PDs have widespread applications in geological remote sensing, machine vision and biological medicine. However, commercial pol-PDs usually require bulky and complicated optical components and are difficult to miniaturize and integrate. The researchers observed that desert ants can navigate back to their nests across barren landscapes without landmarks, thanks to their compound eyes' ability to detect polarized sunlight. They aimed to mimic this capacity with their pol-PD.

Over the past five years, six Fraunhofer Institutes combined their expertise in the Fraunhofer lighthouse project "MaNiTU" to identify the most sustainable paths to market of perovskite-silicon tandem solar cells made of stable materials and manufactured using scalable production processes. They were able to show that high cell efficiencies can be achieved using industry-oriented processes, however, they found that such high efficiencies were only currently achievable with lead perovskite materials. Based on these findings, the researchers developed suitable recycling concepts to ensure sustainability.

In the "MaNiTU" project, the Fraunhofer researchers produced new materials with perovskite crystal structures and compared them with existing materials at the cell level. The comparisons showed that high efficiencies can only be achieved with lead perovskites. They then successfully fabricated highly efficient demonstrators, for example, a perovskite silicon tandem solar cell of more than 100 square centimeters with screen-printed metallization and produced mini modules for single and interconnected tandem solar cells. Subsequent life cycle analyses showed that by using suitable production and recycling processes and degradation rates comparable to today's silicon technology, it is feasible to make a sustainable product.

Japan-based startup PXP Corporation, developer of lightweight and flexible solar cells, has raised a total of 1.5 billion yen (almost USD$10 million) in Series A funding, led by SoftBank Corp., with participation from SOLABLE Corporation, Kowa Optronics Co., Ltd., Toyota Tsusho Corporation, J&TC Frontier LLC (a joint investment vehicle between JFE Engineering Corporation and Tokyo Century Corporation), Automobile Fund Co., Ltd., Mitsubishi HC Capital Co., Ltd., Yokohama Capital Co., Ltd., and TARO Ventures. SoftBank has invested approximately 1 billion yen and acquired approximately 29.9% of PXP's shares.

The solar cell technology being developed by PXP has a tandem structure that combines perovskite solar cells and chalcopyrite solar cells, said to achieve more than 1.5 times the energy conversion efficiency (theoretical value: about 42%) of conventional solar cells. In addition, it is lightweight and flexible, weighing about one-tenth of conventional solar cells, and has high durability against shock and vibration. It can be installed in various locations depending on the application, and it is expected to reduce installation costs. PXP and SoftBank aim to use PXP's next-generation solar cells for various purposes, such as operating SoftBank's data center with green energy, in anticipation of future electricity demand.

MicroQuanta has reportedly announced the successful grid connection of an 8.6 MW ground-mounted PV plant in Lishui, Zhejiang province, China. The plant in eastern China – the world's largest to be built with perovskite solar technology – focuses on agrivoltaics.

The facility sits on previously unused land in Songyang county and features 95,648 MicroQuanta α perovskite modules. The 90 W modules measure 1,245 mm x 635 mm and weigh 12.5 kg. The panels are tilted at a 22-degree angle, utilizing the terrain's natural slope. To allow agricultural use beneath the solar arrays, the lowest edge of the panels are elevated 2 meters off the ground.

Kunshan GCL Optoelectronic Material, a perovskite optoelectronic technology company under GCL Technology Holdings, has recently completed the C1 round of financing led by Goldstone Investment, involving nearly RMB500 million (around USD$68,850,000).

This round of financing introduced institutions such as Kunshan High-Tech Group and HongShan to participate in the investment, and the proceeds will be used to build Kunshan GCL Optoelectronic Material's Kunshan gigawatt perovskite Ore stacked production line, which is expected to be put into operation in 2025. 

Two Eindhoven University of Technology researchers, Shuxia Tao and Nikolay Kosinov, have received an ERC Consolidator Grant worth 2 million euros from the European Research Council (ERC). Tao will research the chirality of materials with perovskites, and Kosinov will focus on carbon-based catalysts. 

Schematic representation of chiral material structures. Image credit: TU/e, Shuxia Tao 

Shuxia Tao, a Professor of Computational Materials Physics at the Department of Applied Physics and Science Education, studies semiconductors such as perovskites. During Tao’s research, she noted that many materials, both organic and inorganic, have chiral properties. She explains: “Chirality refers to a property where objects are mirror images of each other but cannot be superimposed, like our left and right hands. This property is universal in nature, appearing in everything from twisting DNA to the spin of subatomic particles.”