Next-generation perovskite-silicon tandem solar panels have finally arrived on the market. Oxford PV has delivered the first 72-cell modules to a U.S. customer
The Latest News in the Photovoltaic Market
Next-generation perovskite tandem modules have finally arrived on the market. Oxford PV, one of the pioneers committed to bringing perovskite photovoltaics into production, has announced that the first shipment of 72-cell modules has been delivered to a U.S. customer. This marks what Oxford PV has called “the world’s first commercial sale” for this new photovoltaic segment.
“This sale of this technology is a breakthrough for the energy industry,” said David Ward, CEO of Oxford PV. “High-efficiency technologies are the solar industry’s future, and that future is starting now.”
Perovskite-Silicon Tandem Panels, New Efficiency Record
This development is a natural step given the progress made by Oxford PV in recent years. The company completed its first perovskite-silicon cell factory in Germany in 2021. The site now hosts a production line with an annual capacity of about 100 MW. Meanwhile, the company has continued to work on improving the efficiency of this technology at the module level.
The latest significant achievement was reached this year. In June 2024, Oxford PV announced that its residential 60-cell double-glass module, with a designated area of just over 1.6 m², now boasts an efficiency of 26.9%. This value exceeds that of the best silicon modules currently on the market with a similar designated area. The efficiency was independently measured and certified by Fraunhofer CalLab.
Perovskite-Silicon Solar Cells, the CEA-3SUN Record
At the cell level, the true record for perovskite-silicon tandem technology belongs to the unit created by scientists at the French research institute CEA. Researchers, in collaboration with 3SUN, the Sicilian photovoltaic megafactory, have created a 9 cm² solar cell with a conversion efficiency of 29.8%. This is an important milestone for the industrialization of this technology, offering higher yields on larger surfaces and ensuring long-term reliability. Most international records involve surfaces of 1 cm².
The First Perovskite Tandem Modules Are on the Market
The first delivered batch, however, will be of a different type. These are next-generation 72-cell photovoltaic panels, still composed of perovskite-silicon tandem units, with a module-level efficiency of 24.5%. “They will be used,” according to a company press release, “in a utility-scale installation, reducing the levelized cost of electricity (LCOE), contributing to more efficient land use, and generating more electricity from the same area.”
In the coming years, Oxford PV plans to direct the production at its Brandenburg plant on the Havel, Germany, to other utility sector clients, special products, and pilot residential applications, while increasing production to the gigawatt scale at a future high-volume production site.
Next-Generation Perovskite Photovoltaic Panels: The Advantages
Interest in perovskite as a photovoltaic material has skyrocketed since 2009. The intrinsic qualities of this semiconductor class (a family of synthetic materials, not the mineral perovskite) have made it a particularly attractive research field. The advantages? Superior optical absorption properties combined with high carrier mobility and diffusion length. Additionally, perovskites can be tuned to respond to different colors in the solar spectrum by modifying the material composition. This flexibility allows perovskites to be combined with another absorber photovoltaic material to create tandem multi-junction architectures.
However, compared to silicon, these materials suffer from greater sensitivity to moisture, oxygen, or heat. To increase stability, researchers study degradation in the perovskite material itself and in the surrounding device layers.
Single-Junction Perovskite Solar Cells, What Is the Current Efficiency?
In a short time, perovskite photovoltaics have achieved performance levels that took several decades for silicon photovoltaics. For example, in 2009, industry research reported achieving 3.81% and 3.13% conversion efficiency with two perovskite solar cells using iodine (I) and bromine (Br) as halide materials, respectively. By 2019, efficiency had already risen to 22.1%. Today, the best result for single-junction technology is achieved by Northwest University: a highly stable 0.05 cm² perovskite solar cell with a conversion efficiency of 26.15% (certified by NREL).
