University of Sydney researcher Professor Anita Ho-Baillie has been awarded $7.25 million by the Australian Government's renewable energy agency to accelerate the commercialisation of next-generation solar cell technology.

The Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) today announced the funding, which will advance Professor Ho-Baillie's work to make Silicon (Si)-perovskite next-generation solar cells more stable in order to maintain their efficiency advantage across the lifespan of a solar panel.

Partnering with Australian solar panel manufacturer Unison Solar Energy, Professor Ho-Baillie, the University's inaugural John Hooke Chair of Nanoscience, will take tandem-cell technology one step closer to becoming commercially viable. Tandem cell technology stacks multiple cells on top of each other, forming a single unit that converts a broader range of solar spectrum into electricity more efficiently. 

Silicon(Si)-perovskite technology has the potential to overcome the performance limitations of current solar cell technology. Silicon is the predominant semiconductor used in commercial solar panels but its conversion rate – the amount of solar energy it converts into electricity – currently peaks at about 25 percent. Perovskites, made from synthesising metal with halogens, have emerged as a promising alternative or partner to Si cell technology. 

Professor Ho-Baillie's research efforts have focused on stacking perovskites on top of silicon to form a tandem solar cell, rather than using silicon as the sole semiconductor. 

“There isn’t much room for silicon to improve because its theoretical limit is only 30 percent – but for perovskite-silicon tandem, it is about 40 percent,” said Professor Ho-Baillie. 

Her research team has already shown the greater efficiency of this Si-perovskite technology, achieving Australia’s first 30 percent efficient Si-perovskite tandems on small and large areas, independently confirmed by recognised test centres. Her team has also reported tandem cells passing industry standard tests against thermal extremes and moisture.  

Funding announced today will allow Professor Ho-Baillie and her team, including School of Physics' researchers Professor David McKenzie, Dr Jueming Bing and Dr Guoliang Wang, to prove the reliability of Si-perovskite cells under a series of industry standards. Their ultimate goal is to improve the cells' ability to maintain their conversion rate over the life expectancy of solar panels. 

"Our next round of testing will prove this technology's ability to cope with UV light and mechanical stresses," Professor Ho-Baillie said. 

The funding has been made available via ARENA's latest Ultra Low-Cost Solar PV Funding Round Announcement. It will be delivered over five years, commencing in 2027.

"This is a fantastic opportunity for us to make research we've been doing at the University for the last six years translational. We'd love to be able to see it through, to get Si-perovskite technology to the stage of being commercially viable for clean power generation."

Unison Solar Energy CEO Dr Allen Guo welcomed the funding partnership. 

"We're delighted to be working with the University of Sydney to develop next generation Australian-made solar technologies that withstand Australia's harsh conditions," he said.