ACAP ANU team develop industry-friendly large area deposition method for perovskite-silicon tandems

Working with Jinko, researchers at ANU have bridged the gap between perovskite lab breakthroughs and solar manufacturing.

Perovskite–silicon tandem solar cells promise a step-change in solar efficiency, but one stubborn problem has slowed their path to market: how to coat perovskite materials uniformly over the large, textured silicon wafers used in real factories. In 2025, researchers at the Australian National University (ANU), led by Dr The Duong, delivered a major breakthrough by solving this scalability challenge.

The team developed and refined a two-step hybrid deposition method that combines evaporation of an inorganic metal-halide template with blade coating of the organic components. Crucially, this approach enables uniform perovskite films on large-area, textured silicon substrates – up to 150 mm × 110 mm – using processes compatible with industrial manufacturing.

Perovskite film deposited by the 2-step hybrid evaporation/blade coating method on 150 mm x 110 mm textured silicon substrates. 

“This work moves the field beyond asking whether perovskite–silicon tandems can work at scale, to how fast they can be manufactured,” said Dr Duong.

“That shift is essential for real-world deployment.”

Key contributors include Dr Viqar Ahmad, Ms Qian Cui, Assoc. Prof. Heping Shen, and Prof. Klaus Weber, with ACAP providing critical infrastructure and coordination. The project also benefits from collaboration with UNSW, the University of Melbourne, and industry partner Jinko Solar, ensuring the research remains tightly aligned with manufacturing realities and commercial pathways.

Using their large area deposition method for perovskite-silicon tandems, the ANU team achieved over 28% efficiency on 1 cm² devices, while maintaining performance during upscaling. Their medium-term targets include 30% efficiency at small scale and at least 27% efficiency on devices larger than 20 cm², benchmarks that would place tandem solar cells firmly within commercial reach.

Stability has been a central focus alongside efficiency. The researchers are advancing encapsulation strategies and undertaking both accelerated and outdoor testing to ensure long-term reliability – an essential requirement for bankable solar technologies.

“What excites us most is the ability to extend this approach to full industrial wafer sizes, including M10 wafers,” Dr Duong noted.

“We now have much better control over perovskite thickness at scale, which opens new pathways for further efficiency gains.”

Together, this work marks a decisive step toward making high-efficiency tandem solar cells manufacturable, reliable, and ready for global deployment.

The ACAP supported ANU Perovskite Research Group. Dr The Duong is second from the left, with group leader Professor Klaus Weber at far left.