ACAP's outdoor Manly Vale facility tests commercial perovskite solar modules under real world conditions
“If you’re claiming a record, you’ve got to have it independently certified.”
That insistence on independent verification by UNSW Scientia Professor Martin Green helped establish a foundation for the modern solar industry. Today, the principle is being applied to the next generation of solar technology through a new UNSW Sydney facility, where commercial perovskite solar modules will be tested under real-world conditions. Located at UNSW’s Water Research Laboratory in Manly Vale, the facility can accommodate up to 160 solar modules, exposing them to Australia’s demanding outdoor conditions, including heat, humidity, intense ultraviolet radiation, rain and salty air. Researchers monitor their performance to establish how well the emerging technology withstands the environment over time. Perovskite modules are also being tested at a smaller site on the rooftop of UNSW’s Tyree Energy Technology Building.
The $18 million five-year project called PROVE (Perovskite Reliability, Outdoor Verification) is led by ACAP UNSW Node Lead Dr Jessica Yajie Jiang, with ACAP founder Professor Green and ACAP Executive Director Professor Renate Egan, and brings together ACAP Nodes UNSW and CSIRO, industry partners Trina Solar and MicroQuanta, and the University of Surrey, with anonymous industry collaborators. The project is supported by ARENA and builds on work seeded by ACAP.
From perovskite's laboratory records to real-world reliability
Perovskites offer a promising pathway to higher-efficiency solar power. When combined with silicon to form a tandem device, they can collectively capture more of the solar spectrum and generate more electricity from the same area. Laboratory results are impressive and commercial products are emerging, but the long-term durability of perovskite modules remains uncertain.
“Silicon is as enduring as rock, so it is very stable in the field,” Dr Jiang says, “But perovskite is not yet a stable chemical structure. It can degrade under sunlight, humidity and other environmental conditions.”
Silicon panel manufacturers commonly guarantee their products will still produce at least 80% of their original output after 25 years. But that kind of guarantee is yet to be verified for tandem products. Independent evidence of performance is essential to assessing whether these products can deliver reliable electricity over their expected lifetimes.
Dr Jiang’s team will investigate how modules from different manufacturers perform (including single-junction perovskite and silicon tandem, with both rigid and flexible designs) and why their performance declines. By combining outdoor monitoring with controlled indoor testing and analysis at microscopic and nanoscale levels, researchers can identify degradation mechanisms and provide findings back to manufacturers to inform improvements in materials, module design and manufacturing processes.
Researchers can identify degradation mechanisms and provide findings back to manufacturers to inform improvements in materials, module design and manufacturing processes.
Early results have already demonstrated significant variability in performance and degradation behaviours amongst different persovskite and tandem modules, as well as both daily and seasonal temperature and irradiance effects.
Industry collaboration built on trust between ACAP and industry
Access to commercial modules is critical to the project. All major solar module manufacturers are developing perovskite-silicon tandem technology, but obtaining samples for independent research can be difficult because products contain commercially sensitive intellectual property. UNSW’s international standing in photovoltaics and the longstanding relationships Professor Green and Dr Jiang have built across the global solar industry have helped secure access to modules for testing. Confidentiality arrangements protect manufacturers’ intellectual property, enabling the team to conduct independent investigations while building confidence in the technology.
By connecting world-leading Australian solar research with commercial product testing and direct feedback to industry, the ACAP-supported facility will help establish whether the next generation of solar modules is ready to deliver on its promise. Its findings will provide valuable evidence for manufacturers, investors and governments as perovskite technology moves towards wider commercial deployment. The team can be contacted at prove@unsw.edu.au.
Comments