Key Findings
UNSW Sydney and UtmoLight have established a new world record for a large-area perovskite solar submodule, achieving a certified stabilized power conversion efficiency of 23.5%. The submodule measures 30 × 30 cm with an aperture area of 676 cm², surpassing the previous efficiency benchmark by 0.6 percentage points.
Technical Details
To achieve this result, researchers eliminated the conventional nickel oxide layer typically used in perovskite solar cells, as this material can react adversely with perovskites and cause instability. Instead, they developed an alternative fabrication process that allows a hole-selective contact to form directly during manufacturing, reducing the total number of processing steps.
The collaboration leveraged UtmoLight’s expertise in module fabrication and large-area processing to translate laboratory-scale material concepts into a high-performance submodule. This approach allows researchers to assess scalability earlier in the development cycle, avoiding the investment of years into materials that may not be compatible with industrial-scale manufacturing.
Background & Context
Perovskites are valued for their high efficiency and potential for low-cost manufacturing. They are frequently combined with traditional silicon cells to create tandem solar cells, which capture different parts of the solar spectrum to increase total electricity output. However, widespread adoption is currently hindered by degradation when exposed to heat, moisture, and prolonged sunlight, as well as the difficulty of maintaining film uniformity and electrical interconnection in large modules.
Significance & Outlook
This breakthrough demonstrates that perovskites can maintain the high efficiency required for scalable manufacturing. In the coming months, the researchers plan to develop a full-scale perovskite solar module with an area of 2.8 m², targeting an efficiency of approximately 18%–19%. Despite this progress, the technology requires further improvements in reproducibility, long-term stability, and efficiency before wide deployment is viable.
Source: https://www.mercomindia.com/australian-researchers-claim-record-perovskite-submodule-efficiency
Get our weekly technology intelligence — free
Receive an infographic that lets you judge at a glance whether each field’s analysis report is worth reading.
Subscribe Free — Weekly Tech Intelligence
By subscribing, you’ll receive Troy-Technical’s weekly technology intelligence newsletter.
- Your email and selected fields are used only to deliver the newsletter.
- We never share your information with third parties.
- You can unsubscribe anytime via the link in each email.
See our Privacy Policy for details.
Takes about a minute · Unsubscribe anytime
