Researchers at the Australian National University (ANU) have reportedly achieved a new world record in the development of perovskite-based solar cells - 26% efficiency in converting sunlight into energy.

The ANU team has been experimenting with perovskite solar cells placed on top of silicon solar cells. The researchers say that the perovskite cells are much better than silicon ones at absorbing blue light, so it is possible to get a much higher voltage out of them. This can be used to circumvent silicon solar cells' efficiency limit, and the ANU team states that it is "... a step closer to a low-cost alternative".

Researchers at the Korea-based Ulsan Institute of Science and Technology (UNIST) have announced the development of a method to produce perovskite solar cells, demonstrating hybrid organic/inorganic perovskite solar cells of 21.2% efficiency, with good stability – retaining 93% of the initial performance after 1,000 hours of light exposure.

The study, a collaboration between UNIST and the Korea Institute of Chemical Technology (KRICT), proposes a new manufacturing method for perovskites - the ‘hot-pressing method’. The University says that this method allows the production of stable, low cost-high efficiency perovskite solar cells.

Researchers at Purdue University and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory have found that certain hybrid perovskites could double the amount of electricity produced without a significant cost increase. This could help in creating efficient solar cells thinner than conventional silicon solar cells, that are also flexible, cheap and easy to make.

The material, a crystalline structure that contains both inorganic materials (iodine and lead) and an organic material (methyl-ammonium), boosts the efficiency so that it can carry two-thirds of the energy from light without losing as much energy to heat.

Solar-Tectic has recently been granted a patent titled "Tin Perovskite/Silicon Thin-Film Tandem Solar Cell" as part of a "Tandem Series" of high efficiency and cost effective solar cells by Solar-Tectic, with the potential to surpass the efficiencies of thin-film solar cell technologies such as CdTe, CIGS, and a-Si and replace the current silicon technology.

The patent is reportedly the first for a perovskite layer on crystalline silicon thin-film (tandem), and covers all non-toxic perovskites and inorganic materials.

Imec, a leading research and innovation hub in nano electronics, energy and digital technologies, and partner in Solliance, announced that it has improved its 4x4cm² perovskite module achieving a certified conversion efficiency of 12.4%.

The module efficiency was measured under long-term maximum power point (MPP) tracking, testifying to its exceptional stability. At Solliance, this perovskite technology is developed with industrially-applicable processes and with a view towards a rapid market introduction of this promising source of renewable energy.