This report confirmed the viability of perovskite solar cell technology for transition to commercial-scale manufacture.
Report extract
In its ARENA funded Measure, Dyesol set out to establish the viability of perovskite solar cell technology for scale-up and manufacture. This activity involved examining a number of important elements to assess whether the technology was ready for the next phase of investment:
- Were perovskite solar cells efficient enough?
- Could they pass basic stability tests indicating prospects for good product lifetime?
- Was it possible to prove this at a scale beyond the laboratory size?
- Could this be done in larger quantities to ensure reproducibility?
- Externally validate the achievements where possible.
- Investigate the fabrication process sequence and assess the manufacturing implications.
- Understand the materials cost breakdown.
- Review the data to determine projected panel costs and energy costs.
- Survey the intellectual property space to understand freedom to operate.
- Build networks within Australia to support industrialisation of this technology.
As much as possible these steps were conducted experimentally, up to the size of small modules. This generated much more robust validity to the subsequent analysis, as it was based on hard evidence rather than speculation.