Perovskites

Researchers in the United States have found microscopic pinholes in perovskites are responsible for the breakdown of such solar cells when under reverse bias conditions. They say the findings should push scientists and engineers to prioritize the production of pinhole-free films to make perovskites more robust and stable.

Researchers have used guanidinium thiocyanate as a chaotropic agent to modulate the crystal growth rate during perovskite crystallization. They compared different concentrations of the guanidinium thiocyanate. Champion device efficiency was 22.34%.

Perovskite’s growing visibility at industry events in 2025 is a sign that perovskites have progressed beyond the small lab-made devices seen earlier this decade. The focus is now on developing materials, processes, and a supply chain ready for large-scale manufacturing and deployment.

A team of UK researchers is working on lightweight cadmium telluride (CdTe) solar devices for space arrays. The aim is to develop 20%-efficient ultra-thin devices to provide lightweight, compact, lower cost solar power for satellites and space-based manufacturing applications.

Scientists in Switzerland have conducted techno-economic analysis of perovskite solar module manufacturing costs in terms of levelized cost of energy and have found that these products could be competitive in the Alpine country provided that they achieve an efficiency of over 24% with a lifespan of 20 years and over 20% with a lifecycle of 30 years.

Researchers in Italy have tested how perovskite solar cells could perform underwater and have found that, at very shallow depths, they may even achieve a higher power conversion efficiencies compared to reference devices operating under out-of-water conditions.

CNNP Optoelectronics has started producing a 1,200 mm × 1,600 mm perovskite solar module on a 200 MW pilot line, marking a step toward scaling commercial manufacturing of next-generation PV technologies.

GCL Optoelectronics has commissioned a 1 GW perovskite solar module facility in China, and says it may increase capacity to 2 GW per year depending on market demand.

Researchers in China have used an argon plasma polishing pre-treatment (APP) to remove surface defects and increase passivation effectiveness in perovskite solar cells. The result is a perovskite device with a 2D interface that significantly improves stability and performance. 

The researchers said they optimized the low-bandgap inverted perovskite cells through a passivating aluminum oxide (Al2O3) interlayer deposited via atomic layer deposition (ALD), which significantly helped improve device efficiency.