A research team at Nanyang Technological University (NTU) in Singapore has developed perovskite solar cells that are “about 10,000 times thinner than a human hair and approximately 50 times thinner than conventional ones,” according to a study published in ACS Energy Letters.
“Buildings account for approximately 40% of global energy consumption, so technologies that unobtrusively transform building surfaces into energy-generating assets are becoming increasingly urgent,” said Professor Annalisa Bruno of NTU’s School of Physical and Mathematical Sciences and School of Materials Science and Engineering.
“Our perovskite cells offer clear advantages, as they can be manufactured using simple processes and at relatively low temperatures. They can also be tuned to absorb specific wavelengths while remaining transparent, and could be scaled up for use on large surfaces, thereby reducing their carbon footprint,” Bruno added.
The researcher noted that, unlike conventional silicon solar cells, the perovskite devices can generate electricity under indirect or diffuse light. “This makes them particularly well-suited for Singapore’s urban environment, where vertical surfaces and frequent cloud cover limit direct solar exposure,” Bruno stated.
Preliminary estimates suggest that installing the technology on a glass-facade building could generate hundreds of MWh per year, although the underlying assumptions and independent validation have not yet been published.
The cells were fabricated using an industry-compatible thermal evaporation process, in which materials are heated in a vacuum chamber until they evaporate and deposit as thin films on a substrate. Their semi-transparency and neutral coloration support integration into architectural glass applications.
The process also avoids toxic solvents and reduces defects in the solar cells, improving energy conversion efficiency. By adjusting deposition parameters, the researchers controlled perovskite layer thickness and produced both opaque and semi-transparent devices.
The team says this is the first demonstration of ultra-thin perovskite solar cells fabricated exclusively using vacuum-based processes, a development that could enable scalable industrial production. Using this approach, they achieved perovskite absorber layers as thin as 10 nanometers while maintaining functional performance.
In opaque devices, the cells reached conversion efficiencies of 7%, 11%, and 12% for 10 nm, 30 nm, and 60 nm layers, respectively. A semi-transparent device with a 60 nm layer allowed around 41% of visible light to pass through while achieving a conversion efficiency of 7.6%.
The researchers did not report accelerated stability data or performance on large-area surfaces beyond a few square centimeters.
“By precisely controlling thermal evaporation, we can tune the transparency of the solar cells. This opens up new possibilities for sustainable architecture, such as tinted windows that generate electricity,” Study lead author Luke White explained.
A patent covering the ultra-thin perovskite film structure has been filed through NTUitive, NTU’s innovation arm.
The researchers are now working with industry partners to validate and standardize the thermal evaporation process and to improve long-term stability, durability, and scalability ahead of potential commercialization.
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