The Australia-based Greatcell (formerly known as Dyesol), has signed a non-exclusive Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with JinkoSolar, according to which the Chinese headquartered solar PV manufacturer will be given access to the company's developmental perovskite solar cells (PSC), with a long term goal to establish a formal agreement to commercialize the technology and commence large scale manufacturing.

Greatcell said that the relationship had formed over months of discussion and with the close support of Nanyang Technology University (NTU), its academic research collaboration partner in Singapore.

The Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) in Ohio, USA, recently used perovskites to explore 3D printed solar cells. Using Optomec’s aerosol jet technology, the team aims to develop a more efficient and low-cost production process for harnessing solar power.

The Air Force Research Laboratory is attempting to develop a manufacturing method which automates production of the solar cells to provide a viable industrial output. To do so, the team atomized perovskite materials which can be 3D printed with the Aerosol Jet technology machine. Having coated a flat surface with the droplets, the team created a solar cell with 15.4% efficiency.

Support from the US Department of Energy (DOE) will be given to several US-based development teams working to commercialize perovskite photovoltaics technology. In the latest round of funding awarded under its SunShot Initiative, the DOE will be giving $46.2 million in support of 48 different photovoltaics projects – with total funding around $65 million (when private-sector contributions are included). However, SunShot funding may be prone to changes and budget cuts proposed by the new Trump administration.

The long-term target of the funding is to achieve a levelized cost of solar-generated energy of $0.03 per kilowatt-hour (for utility-scale systems) by 2030. The SunShot initiative also has interim goals for 2020 of $0.06 per kWh for utility-scale PV, and $0.09 per kWh for residential installations. The DOE estimates the current cost of residential and utility PV at $0.18 and $0.07 per kWh respectively.

Researchers affiliated with UNIST, the Korea Institute of Chemical Technology (KRICT) and Hanyang University have designed a cost-efficient method to produce inorganic-organic hybrid perovskite solar cells (PSCs), with outstanding efficiency performance of 22.1% in small cells and 19.7% in 1-square-centimeter cells.

A key feature of this technology is its ability to tackle the dominating defect in perovskite-halides, which is known to decrease the photoelectric efficiency. The team's results demonstrate that careful control of the growth conditions of perovskite layers with management of deficient halide anions is essential for realizing high-efficiency thin-film PSCs based on lead-halide-perovskite absorbers.