Oxford scientists develop solar coating with 27% efficiency

Scientists at Oxford University Physics Department have developed a new power-generating material that can be coated on the surface of almost any building or common object, the university announced on Friday.

The ultra-thin, flexible material uses a multi-junction approach, stacking multiple light-absorbing layers into one solar cell to harness a wider range of the light spectrum. It has been independently certified by Japan’s National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST) to deliver over 27% energy efficiency.

“During just five years experimenting with our stacking or multi-junction approach we have raised power conversion efficiency from around 6% to over 27%, close to the limits of what single-layer photovoltaics can achieve today,” said Dr. Shuaifeng Hu, a postdoctoral fellow at Oxford University Physics, expressing the expectation that efficiencies exceeding 45% could be achieved.

The multi-junction approach to stacking thin-film perovskite captures more of the light spectrum, increasing the amount of solar electricity that can be generated. Copyright Oxford University Physics.

“We can envisage perovskite coatings being applied to broader types of surface to generate cheap solar power, such as the roof of cars and buildings and even the backs of mobile phones. If more solar energy can be generated in this way, we can foresee less need in the longer term to use silicon panels or build more and more solar farms,” added Dr. Junke Wang of Oxford University Physics.

Oxford PV, a UK company spun out of Oxford University Physics in 2010, has recently launched the world’s first volume manufacturing line for perovskite-on-silicon tandem solar cells at its factory in Brandenburg-an-der-Havel, near Berlin, Germany.

“We originally looked at UK sites to start manufacturing but the government has yet to match the fiscal and commercial incentives on offer in other parts of Europe and the United States,” said co-founder and chief scientific officer Professor Henry Snaith. “Thus far the UK has thought about solar energy purely in terms of building new solar farms, but the real growth will come from commercialising innovations – we very much hope that the newly-created British Energy will direct its attention to this,” added Professor Snaith.

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