Perovskite solar modules on residential roofs could be one step closer to this goal: Oxford PV announces what it claims is the world’s first commercial sale of modules.
Perovskite materials have semiconductor properties and in the last 15 years there has been intensive research into their use in the production of solar cells. Perovskite occurs naturally as a calcium titanium oxide mineral, but perovskite crystal structures can also be produced synthetically using inexpensive manufacturing processes.
While silicon has been the material of choice for commercially manufactured solar panels for decades, we are approaching a maximum conversion efficiency limit of 29% to 31%. One of the advantages of using perovskite cells is a theoretical limit on conversion efficiency of 43%.
However, a major challenge for these materials was stability, with initial attempts quickly failing – and much of the research since then has addressed this issue.
Commercialization a “breakthrough”
Oxford PV is one of the companies working on perovskite technology. The company was founded in 2010 as a spin-off from Professor Henry Snaith’s laboratory at the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. Today the company has a research and development site in Oxford and a megawatt-scale pilot plant in Brandenburg an der Havel near Berlin in Germany.
Oxford PV began focusing on the development of perovskite-silicon tandem solar cells in 2014. These cells consist of a conventional silicon sub-cell and a perovskite top cell.
“This improves the performance of silicon solar cells in the same footprint and enables cost reductions that transform the economics of silicon solar energy generation,” the company explains.
Last week, the company announced that it had begun commercializing its tandem solar technology with the first delivery of a large-scale system to a U.S.-based customer.
“Commercialization of this technology is a breakthrough for the energy industry,” said David Ward, CEO of Oxford PV. “Highly efficient technologies are the future of the solar industry, and that future starts now.”
This first batch of 72-cell modules has a module efficiency of 24.5%. A look at SolarQuotes’ solar module comparison table shows that the (silicon) modules currently listed have conversion efficiencies between 20.2% and 23%.
Unfortunately, which company the first panels went to, how many, warranty details and other module specifications have not yet been announced – not even a decent picture. However, Oxford PV says it will continue to spread production from its pilot plant to more utility customers, specialty products and residential pilot applications, and plans to scale up to gigawatt scale at a future production site.
In the residential sector, Oxford PV recently achieved a silicon perovskite tandem cell module efficiency of 26.9%. This was a 60-cell double-glass module measuring just over 1.6 m² and weighing less than 25 kg.
Other Notable Perovskite Players
Oxford PV isn’t the only company making solid progress in developing perovskite-silicon solar technology. For example, in May this year, JinkoSolar announced that its N-type TOPCon-based perovskite tandem solar cell achieved a conversion efficiency of 33.24%. Another solar industry giant, Longi, announced in June that it had achieved 34.6% efficiency with a tandem cell.
As for stability issues, GCL Technology claimed in July that its latest tandem cell module met IEC testing standards; This suggests similar degradation to standard silicon solar panels. However, the company noted that the tests were designed to mine silicon, not perovskite products. It’s also worth noting that GCL said its “pure” perovskite modules have been deployed in a 1MW China Three Gorges project since late 2023.
The company aims to begin mass production by the end of 2025.
Learn more about perovskite solar panels
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