ACAP research excellence showcased at EU PVSEC 2025
- alisonpotter2
- Oct 2
- 4 min read
Australia’s leadership in photovoltaic (PV) research was on full display at the 42nd European Photovoltaic Solar Energy Conference and Exhibition (EU PVSEC 2025), held in Bilbao, Spain, this September.
As one of the world’s premier scientific gatherings for solar energy, EU PVSEC brings together researchers, industry leaders, and policymakers over 5 days to explore the latest breakthroughs in PV technology, manufacturing, reliability, and sustainability. Important connections between scientists and industry are created at EU PVSEC.
This year’s conference was marked by urgent conversations around solar module reliability, UV degradation, advanced tandem technologies, the need for outdoor testing, policy needs in a challenging political landscape, and the future of European PV manufacturing. With over 1,200 presentations and visual sessions, the event highlighted the global race toward high-efficiency, low-cost, and sustainable solar energy systems.
UNSW and ANU
Researchers from the University of New South Wales (UNSW) and the Australian National University (ANU) delivered a broad and high-calibre suite of presentations, spanning advanced cell architectures, reliability testing, sustainability, pumped hydro storage, and policy. Their work demonstrated technical excellence and shaped key industry conversations.
Award-winning contributions
Two standout achievements underscored the calibre of ACAP supported research:
Best Student Oral Presentation: Maysa Sarsour (UNSW) won the student award for her presentation evaluating the stability of nc-Si SHJ cells under operational conditions and industrial treatments - "Evaluating SHJ Solar Cell Stability under Industrial Illuminated Hydrogenation"
Best Poster Award: Professor Andrew Blakers (ANU) was recognised for his visual presentation, “Unlimited Pumped Hydro Energy Storage to Support 100% Renewable Energy in Europe”, a timely and visionary contribution to the energy transition dialogue.
Reliability, metallisation and characterisation: UNSW’s technical leadership
UNSW’s contributions were particularly notable in the area of solar cell reliability and degradation mechanisms, with several presentations from Professor Bram Hoex’s globally respected research team:
“Understanding the Root Cause of UV-Induced Degradation in TOPCon and PERC Solar Cells” – Led by Umair Khan, this work provided critical insights into degradation pathways, helping the industry address long-term performance losses.
“Towards Standardised Test Protocol for Evaluating UV Susceptibility in PV Industry”– In collaboration with Canadian Solar, this presentation emphasised the need for harmonised testing standards to ensure module reliability across global markets.
“Hidden Traces: Insights into How Solar Cell Handling Drives Damp-Heat Failures in HJT and TOPCon Modules” – This work reveals how subtle handling practices can lead to major reliability issues, and has garnered significant industry interest.
“Mitigating Contaminant-Induced Degradation in TOPCon Solar Cells via Copper Plating” – Student Award Finalist Xutao Wang, Chandany Sen, Umair Khan and colleagues explored advanced metallisation strategies to reduce contamination-induced degradation – an increasingly important issue for industrial-scale production.
“Reverse Analysis of Constitutive Properties of Screen-Printed Silver of Silicon Heterojunction Solar Cells” Presented by Pei-Chieh Hsiao, Alison Lennon, and ACAP Executive Director Professor Renate Egan, in collaboration with SunDrive, this work contributes to the understanding of metallisation processes critical to high-efficiency SHJ cells, and supports the development of silver-free alternatives.
“Special Introductory: Next-Generation Characterisation” – Delivered by Arthur Julien, Shuai Nie, and Ziv Hameiri, this session introduced advanced techniques for characterising solar cells, highlighting UNSW’s leadership in developing tools that enable deeper insights into device physics and performance.
Other key UNSW contributions included:
“Minimising Optical Losses in Bifacial TOPCon Cells” – by Professor Martin Green and Ning Song, advancing bifacial cell performance.
“PV-made-in-Europe: Policy Measures for Competitive LCOE” – co-authored by Mohammad Dehghanimadvar, Nathan Chang, and ACAP Executive Director Professor Renate Egan, this policy-focused presentation explored the economic viability of European PV manufacturing.
ANU’s significant contributions to tandem and perovskite research
ANU researchers made significant technical contributions:
“Imaging Efficiency of Perovskite Solar Cells via Voltage-Dependent Photoluminescence” – Anh Dinh Bui presented o this work advancing characterisation techniques for tandem devices.
“Developing a Two-Step Sequential Deposition Approach for Wide-Bandgap Perovskite Thin Films” – Qian Cui presented a promising route towards scalable tandem cell manufacturing.
Sustainability and circularity
Both UNSW and ANU were active in sessions focused on life cycle assessment, PV recycling, and sustainable manufacturing. Highlights included:
“Stepwise Pathways to Decarbonise Emissions of PV Deployment via Green Mounting Systems and Recycled Materials” – UNSW’s Moonyong Kim, Sisi Wang, Brett Hallam and team.
“Integrated Carbon Emissions and Production Costs of Silicon Manufacturing” – joint work by UNSW and ANU researchers.
“Supporting EU PV Manufacturing through PV Module Recycling” – UNSW’s Yansong Shen and colleagues.
A global stage for Australian excellence
The breadth and calibre of contributions from UNSW and ANU at EU PVSEC 2025 reflect Australia’s global leadership in PV research.
Outside of the ACAP program of work, newly appointed UNSW SPREE Head of School Professor Nicholas Ekins Daukes and Shona McNab delivered their masterclass 'From Fundamentals to New Materials for PV Cells' through the PV Academy (soon to be accessible in PV Academy's online tutorial collection). And UNSW's Shukla Podder presented on one of the hot topics in energy meteorology - how extreme weather events like dust storms can be modelled better to understand both local and non-localised impacts on PV generation and reliability.
From fundamental science to industrial application and policy, our researchers continue to shape the future of solar energy. As the world accelerates toward a clean energy future, ACAP is proud to support and celebrate the achievements of our research community.
Please note this is not an exhaustive list of all the presentations by Australian researchers at EU PVSEC 2025.
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