BIPV

Microquanta has announced the completion of what it claims to be the world's largest building-integrated photovoltaic (BIPV) project based on perovskite solar panels. Installed on the translucent roof of the University Student Entrepreneurship Center in Shenchi County, Shanxi Province, the project has a capacity of 17.92 kWp. 

Microquanta specified that its custom-designed double-glass perovskite modules measure 1,200 mm x 1,000 mm and achieve a light transmittance of around 40%, allowing daylight into the building interior while generating electricity.

India-based P3C has announced a partnership with the National Institute of Solar Energy (NISE). 

P3C and NISE have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to accelerate India’s transition to a low-carbon, sustainable future. This partnership will focus on advancing perovskite solar technology and powering next-generation solar solutions, including glass and flexible perovskite modules, tandem solar cells, and advanced PV innovations for both urban and rural environments. The two parties' shared goal is to make clean energy accessible, efficient, and scalable across India, from rooftops and farmlands to smart cities and remote villages.

Smartline PV is an innovative Horizon Europe project focused on improving the efficiency and stability of tin halide perovskite solar cells, a promising alternative to toxic lead-based systems. The project focuses on overcoming key challenges with a fast, robust, and scalable plasma-assisted crystallization technology, which ensures high-quality tin perovskite films through precise control of nucleation and growth. This innovative process benefits from high speed, low temperatures, and tailored precursor chemistry.

Additionally, Smartline PV will implement tailored interlayers to further enhance solar cell efficiency and stability, along with novel device concepts for flexible, color-selectable tin perovskite solar cell modules. Smartline PV's lead-free technology aims to achieve efficiencies of 22%, significantly reducing energy consumption and manufacturing costs compared to traditional high-temperature thin film processes.

UtmoLight has anounced that its gigawatt-scale perovskite solar module facility in Wuxi is now online and has started production. 

Image credit: UtmoLight

The plant will mass-produce ultra-large perovskite modules and building-integrated photovoltaic (BIPV) products, and as the line ramps up to full production, it is expected to produce about 1.8 million such modules annually.

Researchers from Pakistan's University of Engineering & Technology (UET) and National University of Technology have reported the use of manual screen printing to fabricate semi-transparent, scalable perovskite solar modules without the requirement for numerous laser-scribing steps. 

A carbon-based, hole-transport-layer-free perovskite solar module with a power conversion efficiency of 11.83% was manufactured, with an active area of 900 cm². Accelerated testing was done in settings with elevated humidity, high sun irradiation, and harsh temperatures to determine whether these modules are ready for the market. 

Sekisui Chemical has announced it was selected for the GX Supply Chain Construction Support Project by Japan's Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry. The company would like to play a central role in realizing the government's goal of establishing a gigawatt (GW) level supply system by 2030, and has therefore decided to make a capital investment with the aim of starting operation of a 100 MW manufacturing line in 2027, for producing lightweight perovskite solar panels, to be used initially for low load-bearing rooftops. 

The Company plans to take over the buildings of Sharp Corporation in Sakai City, Osaka Prefecture, and install perovskite solar cell manufacturing facilities to carry out manufacture and sales.

Researchers from City University of Hong Kong have introduced a novel and durable 2D thermochromic perovskite, Tha₂MAPbI₄ (TMPI, Tha = thiourea, MA = methylamine), wherein Tha acts as a Lewis acid-base adduct. TMPI demonstrates a reversible transition, achieving 83.7% luminous transmittance in the cold state and 35.2% in the hot state, thereby showcasing a substantial solar modulation ability of 24.7%. 

The background for this development is that despite growing interest in thermochromic metal halide perovskite (MHPs) for smart window applications, existing MHP smart windows predominantly feature 3D perovskite, which exhibits a deficiency in environmental stability, presenting persistent challenges for practical applications. 

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.

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".

Semi-transparent solar cells are appealing for many different applications such as building-integrated photovoltaics (BIPVs), tandem solar cells and in wearable electronics. Perovskites could be ideal for semi-transparent applications as they are versatile and easy to optimize.

Semi-transparent perovskite solar cells (ST-PSCs) must try to maximize efficiency and transparency. Methods such as bandgap engineering, thinning perovskite layers, and creating discontinuous structures are being developed to improve their performance. However, challenges still remain with ST-PSC development, such as phase stability and defect management.