Solution chemistry is the cornerstone of scalable, low-cost, and sustainable fabrication of thin-film photovoltaic (PV) and functional materials, enabling high-efficiency perovskite, organic, quantum-dot, kesterite, chalcogenide, and hybrid solar cells. This symposium will highlight fundamental advances in solution-based film deposition, precursor design, solvent engineering, additive strategies, crystallisation kinetics, and in-situ/operando characterisation that control film morphology, defect chemistry, interfaces, and device performance.

Emphasis will be placed on bridging lab-scale insights with industrially relevant processes — such as slot-die coating, blade coating, inkjet printing, and spray deposition — while integrating data-driven and automation approaches, including artificial intelligence, machine learning, and high-throughput experimentation. The symposium will critically address key challenges, including long-term operational stability, adoption of green and sustainable solvents, reliable upscaling to large-area modules, seamless integration into multijunction and tandem architectures, and the pressing issue of batch-to-batch and lab-to-lab reproducibility.

By uniting chemists, materials scientists, and device engineers, the symposium aims to accelerate the development of next-generation, environmentally benign PV technologies that meet the demands of sustainable energy production. Contributions on both fundamental solution-phase mechanisms and applied device-level outcomes are warmly invited.