“Australia needs better fabrication processes for next-generation perovskite solar cells so we can increase market adoption of commercially viable technology with minimal risk in production,” he said in a statement at the time.
“By developing green-solvent solution processing – and PSCs based on tin instead of lead – this project will make real-world PSC manufacture cleaner and safer, delivering a new class of efficient, safe, stable, environmentally responsible solar cells.”
The perovskite family of solar materials has long been promising as a way to make light, flexible solar modules that are easily deposited onto different surfaces, as well as being cheap to produce and as efficient as silicon-based photovoltaic materials.
But a number of key hurdles have thus far blocked perovskite-based solar cells from becoming commercially competitive.
Among these is the time-intensive work of trying to nail down the right variations of the materials with the best efficiency, cost, and – most elusive of all – durability as they do not last as long as silicon.
But those hurdles are falling as companies such as California’s Caelux begin shipping perovskite glass, and Halocell says it’s been selling indoor cells in Australia for small electronics since last year.
Halocell is in the process of expanding a Wagga Wagga plant capacity by adding more roll-to-roll lines so it can hit a target of 60 million units a year.