Publication date: 5th November 2025
The silicon photovoltaic industry has matured significantly over the past decades and there is a general consensus that future breakthroughs will require novel photovoltaic absorbers to enhance the performance of silicon in tandem solar cells, which comprise stacks of multiple absorber layers. Lead halide perovskites are currently receiving considerable attention for application in commercial silicon–perovskite tandem solar cells. However, concerns regarding their intrinsic stability and toxicity provide strong motivation to explore alternatives beyond lead halide perovskites, seeking photovoltaic absorbers that can similarly enhance silicon performance. A vast fraction of the approximately 10 billion possible inorganic materials remains unexplored. This represents an excellent opportunity for the discovery of novel photovoltaic materials, but it also poses equally daunting challenges: namely, the identification of promising PV material candidates in silico and their efficient experimental validation in situ. This presentation will examine these challenges in more detail and introduce a novel autonomous experimental materials discovery platform, established in Melbourne (Australia), designed specifically for the evaluation of novel solution-processable PV absorber materials. The platform consists of multiple collaborating robotic units capable of (1) formulating coating inks from solid and liquid precursors, (2) fabricating thin films from these coating inks, and (3) performing comprehensive analysis of these thin films with respect to their structural, optical, and electrical properties. Figure 1 provides a schematic overview of the materials discovery workflow. In the 2nd part of this talk I will discuss challenges and opportunities associated with photoinduced halide dynamics in lead halide perovskites.
We acknolwedge financial support by the Australian Renewable Energy Agency through the Australian Centre for Advanced Photovoltaics.
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