NUS researchers achieve breakthrough in stabilising vapour-deposited perovskite-silicon tandem solar cells, paving the way for real-world deployment
- Global Research Partnerships
- 6 days ago
- 1 min read
First successful use of vapour deposition on industrial silicon wafers delivers unprecedented durability in perovskite–silicon tandem solar cells
NUS researchers have developed a groundbreaking vapour-deposition method that dramatically improves the long-term and high-temperature stability of perovskite-silicon (Si) tandem solar cells. This is the first time vapour deposition has been successfully applied to industrial micrometre-textured silicon wafers, the actual wafer structure used in commercial solar cells manufacturing, marking a major milestone for translating laboratory-scale tandem solar cells into real-world products.
The new method enables conformal, high-quality perovskite growth on industrial micrometre-scale textured silicon wafers, a critical requirement for mass production, and delivers more than 30 per cent power-conversion efficiency with operational stability far exceeding 2,000 hours, including T₉₀ lifetimes — the time taken for performance to drop to 90 per cent of initial output — of over 1,400 hours at 85 deg C under 1-sun illumination, a standard benchmark in solar energy representing a light intensity of 1000 watts per square metre.
These results represent one of the most durable perovskite-Si tandem solar cells ever reported, validating a viable pathway toward commercial photovoltaic modules. This work was led by Assistant Professor Hou Yi, who is a Presidential Young Professor in the Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering under the College of Design and Engineering at NUS, and Head of the Perovskite-based Multijunction Solar Cells Group at the Solar Energy Research Institute of Singapore (SERIS) at NUS.
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