ANU team create record-breaking solar cells

Researchers from The Australian National University (ANU) have achieved a major breakthrough in solar energy research, setting a new efficiency record for perovskite solar cells.

The team, led by Dr Keqing Huang and Dr The Duong from the ANU School of Engineering, achieved a certified power conversion efficiency of 26.29 per cent in next-generation perovskite solar cells that use a standard ‘n-i-p’ structure – the highest efficiency ever recorded for devices using tin oxide as the electron transport material.

“This is one of the highest efficiencies ever achieved for this type of solar cell,” Dr Duong said.

“It means more than a quarter of the sunlight hitting the cell is converted directly into usable electricity.”

The study tackles a key challenge in solar cell design: how to control and optimise the interface where different layers of the device meet.

“We’ve developed a way to fine-tune one of the key layers inside a solar cell so that it collects sunlight much more efficiently,” Dr Duong said.

“Think of it like smoothing out a road so cars can move faster. Our ‘road’ is the pathway electrons travel, and by making it better, the whole solar cell performs at a record level.”

By precisely engineering the interface between the tin oxide layer and the perovskite layer, the researchers significantly reduced energy losses, leading to a substantial boost in performance.

“This milestone demonstrates the potential of tailored interface engineering to push the performance limits of perovskite solar cells and contributes to advancing next-generation photovoltaic technologies,” Dr Duong said.

The results place ANU-engineered perovskite solar cells ahead of many technologies currently in use. For comparison, most commercial rooftop panels today operate at around 20-22 per cent efficiency.

“Our result shows that perovskite solar cells have the potential to outperform the solar panels most people use today, while being lighter and cheaper to manufacture,” Dr Duong said.

That higher performance could also unlock new possibilities for how and where solar energy is used.

“Perovskite solar cells can be made flexible, which opens up so many opportunities,” Dr Duong said.

“It allows solar to be used in more places – from rooftops and windows to portable electronics and even powering satellites in space.”

The research also paves the way for even greater advances in solar technology. One promising next step is combining perovskite with silicon to create tandem solar cells capable of surpassing current efficiency limits.

“This breakthrough opens the door to even better solar technologies,” Dr Duong said.

While the results are a major leap forward, challenges remain before perovskite solar cells are ready for widespread use.

“The key challenge is stability,” Dr Duong said.

“Perovskite cells need to work reliably for decades in real-world conditions. If we can solve this, we’ll have a new class of solar technology that is highly efficient, low-cost, and widely deployable.”

The team’s findings are published in Advanced Science.