SUNREY: Boosting sustainability, reliability and efficiency of perovskite PV through novel materials and process engineering
Perovskite photovoltaics have advanced rapidly in the last 10 years. As such, they promise better efficiency, reduced embedded energy and CO2 emissions, and low-temperature production for versatile applications such as flexible photovoltaics, all at potentially lower costs than current technology. However, poor stability and a short lifetime in the field are holding back wider deployment of perovskite photovoltaics. In addition, the best performing materials currently also contain lead, which is toxic, and damaging to health and the environment.
SUNREY will tackle the root causes of these limiting factors through a suite of innovations covering all aspects of perovskite photovoltaics design and manufacture including:
- Development of new charge-transport and electrode materials, and low-cost deposition methods, that can be configured to different perovskite absorbers
- Creation of lead-free materials with better stability
- Development of cost efficient deposition techniques, barriers and photovoltaic encapsulation as well as process optimisation
- New approaches to degradation mechanism analysis
- Incorporation of modelling to combine barrier properties data with device performance models and test data
- Life cycle, circularity and stability analysis
These activities will be validated to Technology Readiness Level (TRL) 5 through testing under both realistic laboratory conditions and outdoors, with the aim of demonstrating improvements to the stability/performance ratio of perovskite materials.
On completion, SUNREY hopes to achieve a breakthrough combination of high efficiency; 25% lead-based and 15% lead-free, and reduced emissions, with a photovoltaic lifespan of 25 years and lower manufacturing costs compared to using other system integrators. This is expected to open up a wide range of new opportunities for the solar PV industry such as utility-scale panels, internet of things (IoT), micro- and independent power sources, building applied utility power (BAPV) and building-integrated photovoltaics.
Partners: Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft (Fraunhofer IAP); also the Project Coordinator, Universita Degli Studi di Roma Tor Vergata, CYCLECO SAS, AIT – Austrian Institute of Technology, Dyenamo AB, Great Cell Solar Italia Societa’ a Responsabiliata’ Limitata, Materia Nova, Universidad de Córdoba, n-ink AB, Technische Universität Graz, Solaronix SA, Teesside University and MatIC.
SUNREY has received funding under the EU’s Horizon Europe research and Innovation programme under grant agreement No. 101084422, with the UK partners funded by UK Research and Innovation under the Horizon Europe Guarantee, and is part of the European Green Deal Initiative.