Researchers from the universities of New York, Peking, Electronic Science and Technology of China, Yale and Johns Hopkins report they have solved a major challenge to the commercial production of perovskite solar cells, by turning to spray coating. The scientists say spraying can apply the electron transport layer (ETL) uniformly across a large area, and is suitable for manufacturing large solar panels and ensuring high performance.

The research team reported spray coating led to a 30% efficiency gain over other ETLs – translating to a power conversion efficiency leap from 13% to over 17% – and even resulted in fewer defects.

Oxford Photovoltaics has reported a new perovskite tandem solar cell record, certified by Fraunhofer ISE at a conversion efficiency of 27.3%. Oxford PV’s latest record for a 1 cm2 perovskite-silicon tandem solar, reportedly exceeds the 26.7% efficiency world record for a single-junction silicon solar cell.

Oxford PV recently produced a 1 cm2 perovskite-silicon two-terminal tandem solar cell with a verified conversion efficiency of 25.2%, through an ongoing collaboration with Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin (HZB) and the Photovoltaics and Optoelectronics Device Group at the University of Oxford, led by Professor Snaith.