Large-Area, Roll-to-Roll Fabricated Flexible Microgroove Modules

Nathan Hill^a, Freddie White^b, Sophia Baker^a, Farshad Jafarzadeh^a, Timothy Thornbur^c, George Koutsourakis^d, James Blakesley^d, Trevor McArdle^a, David Lidzey^c, Roderick Mackenzie^b, Dumitru Sirbu^a

^aPower Roll Ltd, Turbine Way, 2, Sunderland, United Kingdom

^bDepartment of Engineering, Durham University, Lower Mount Joy, South Road, United Kingdom

^cDepartment of Physics and Astronomy, University of Sheffield, UK, Hounsfield Road, United Kingdom

^dNational Physical Laboratory, United Kingdom, Middlesex, TW11 0LW, Teddington, United Kingdom

Proceedings of MATSUS Spring 2026 Conference (MATSUSSpring26)

A3 Flexible Perovskite Solar Cells: Materials, Interfaces, and Stability

Barcelona, Spain, 2026 March 23rd - 27th

Organizers: Yue Hu and Ji-Youn Seo

Invited Speaker, Nathan Hill, presentation 385
Publication date: 15th December 2025

Perovskite photovoltaics are entering early commercial markets, yet meeting global energy targets requires scalable, low-cost manufacturing beyond laboratory processes. Roll-to-roll (R2R) fabrication offers a viable path toward high-throughput, large-area deployment. Here, we demonstrate the first fully R2R-manufactured back-contact perovskite modules on embossed flexible polymer substrates, enabling device architectures that are entirely free of rare metals (e.g., Ag, Au) and traditional transparent conductive oxides such as ITO. [1]

Building on previous work reporting cascaded series-connected microgroove devices with record back-contact efficiencies of 12.8% we scale the concept to monolithically processed modules in which every layer is fabricated on a continuously moving web. [2,3] Large-area (>100 cm²) flexible modules achieve >10% power conversion efficiency, representing a step-change in the manufacturability and size of back-contact perovskite technology. The devices incorporate over 55,000 parallel-connected microgrooves, enabling high current output, strong bifaciality, and enhanced tolerance to oblique illumination, unlocking applications such as agri-PV and building-integrated photovoltaics.

To elucidate the optoelectronic behaviour of the microgroove architecture, we combine computational groove simulations with ray-traced optical modelling, revealing spatial charge-generation profiles under varying incident angles. Devices exhibit promising operational stability aligned with ISOS protocols, including accelerated light soaking, damp-heat exposure, and up to five months of outdoor testing. Complementary nanometre-resolution X-ray fluorescence mapping under extreme stress conditions provides insight into degradation pathways in MAPbI3-based back-contact architectures.

Finally, we fabricate R2R modules up to 2,400 cm², delivering instantaneous power outputs and demonstrating the scalability of the technology. These results establish a commercial pathway for low-cost, high-volume production of flexible back-contact perovskite modules.

References:

[1] Wong-Stringer, M., Routledge, T. J., McArdle, T., Wood, C. J., Game, O. S., Smith, J. A., Bishop, J. E., Vaenas, N., Coles, D. M., Buckley, A. R., & Lidzey, D. G. (2019). A flexible back-contact perovskite solar micro-module. Energy & Environmental Science, 12(6), 1928–1937.

[2] Blackburn, D., Hill, N. S., Wood, C. J., Velusamy, T., Nieto-Díaz, B. A., Woolley, C., Brown, A., Zampelis, L., McArdle, T., Worth, M., Thornber, T., Albariqi, I., Kilbride, R. C., Yang, T., Hunter, C. N., Leggett, G. J., Koutsourakis, G., Blakesley, J. C., Castro, F. A., … Lidzey, D. G. (2025). Back-Contact Perovskite Solar Cell Modules Fabricated via Roll-to-Roll Slot-Die Coating: Scale-Up toward Manufacturing. ACS Applied Energy Materials, 8(4), 2219–2228.

[3] Blackburn, D., Hill, N. S., Sirbu, D., & Lidzey, D. G. (2025). Back-Contact Perovskite Solar Cells: Progress, Challenges and the Future. ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces, 17(39), 54329–54340.

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