Oxford PV to commercialise perovskite tandem thin-film for c-Si cells

September 10, 2014
Facebook
Twitter
LinkedIn
Reddit
Email

UK-based thin-film start-up, Oxford Photovoltaics said it would commercialise a perovskite based tandem thin-film for conventional c-Si solar cells ahead of plans to commercialise its BIPV product offering set for 2017. 

In a keynote speech at last years EU PVSEC conference, leading solar scientist Professor Martin Green from the University of New South Wales and Director of the Australian National Energy Agency had highlighted significant advances being made in perovskite material efficiency gains in such as short period. 

This article requires Premium SubscriptionBasic (FREE) Subscription

Try Premium for just $1

  • Full premium access for the first month at only $1
  • Converts to an annual rate after 30 days unless cancelled
  • Cancel anytime during the trial period

Premium Benefits

  • Expert industry analysis and interviews
  • Digital access to PV Tech Power journal
  • Exclusive event discounts

Or get the full Premium subscription right away

Or continue reading this article for free

Chris Case, Chief Technology Officer of Oxford PV said “In two years of R&D, we've gone from a conversion efficiency of 5 percent as a standalone solar cell to above 17 percent — and the data is continuously improving as we try new things. We believe this material can deliver conversion efficiencies in the high twenties in a relatively short period of time. Ultimately, it will drive the performance of solar panels to the next level. Based on progress with customer partners, we expect to see prototype panels available in 2015.”

Case, brought into Oxford PV to commercialise the perovskite products also echoed Professor Green’s EU PVSEC speech in that that perovskites could best find a mainstream application as a tandem layer on conventional crystalline silicon solar cells. 

“Perovskite has the potential to change the solar industry,” said Kevin Arthur, Oxford PV's co-founder and CEO. “Simply put, the material delivers very high performance at a low cost. Applied as a tandem layer, perovskite can have a significant impact by 'turbo boosting' the efficiencies of current mainstream crystalline-silicon products. We're really just scratching the surface now, given the rich potential of this material for a range of solar applications in the longer term.”

The start-up is expected to commercialise the perovskite tandem layer under a licensing model.

Oxford PV claims the perovskite thin-film layer would increase the conversion efficiency of conventional silicon solar cells by 20 percent — the equivalent of a 3% to 5% increase in absolute conversion efficiency.

Read Next

October 28, 2025
GreenYellow plans to invest US$116 million in Poland over the next three years to expand its installed capacity and customer base.
Premium
October 28, 2025
BESS are 'the new player that everyone is talking about,' in Europe’s power purchase agreement (PPA) space, according to LevelTen.
October 28, 2025
GoldenPeaks Capital secures EUR114 million (US$132 million) financing package for two solar PV Portfolio in Poland.
October 28, 2025
Navigating module procurement in this financial environment will be a key topic of conversation at the PV ModuleTech Europe 2025 event.
October 28, 2025
PV projects operate close to technical and financial limits, meaning that inaccurate inputs can have performance and profitability impacts.
October 28, 2025
Chinese solar inverter producer GoodWe has launched a new “low noise, low weight” string inverter for the European corporate & industrial solar market.

Subscribe to Newsletter

Upcoming Events

Upcoming Webinars
November 12, 2025
10am PST / 1pm EST
Solar Media Events
November 25, 2025
Warsaw, Poland
Solar Media Events
December 2, 2025
Málaga, Spain
Solar Media Events
February 3, 2026
London, UK
Solar Media Events
March 10, 2026
Frankfurt, Germany