A research team led by Professor Jacek Jasieniak from the ARC Centre of Excellence in Exciton Science (Exciton Science) and Monash University has succeeded in producing next-gen perovskite solar cells that generate electricity while allowing light to pass through. They are now investigating how the new technology could be built into commercial products with Viridian Glass, Australia’s largest glass manufacturer.

The team’s paper in Nano Energy describes a semi-transparent solar cells that can be incorporated into window glass – a ‚Äúgame-changer‚Äù that could transform architecture, urban planning and electricity generation. Operating at ~17% efficiency, two square metres of the team’s solar window could perform as well as a standard rooftop solar panel, the Australian researchers say.

During the project, Professor Jasieniak and his team worked with experts at the Melbourne Centre for Nanofabrication, a purpose built open-access cleanroom space and ANFF’s Flagship Facility.

“It was great to have access to advanced spectroscopic ellipsometry facilities at the MCN/ANFF,” Professor Jasieniak said. “It enabled us to understand the optical properties of our solar cell materials and the optimise the final device structure of our solar windows to achieve record efficiencies of ~17% at 10% light transmission.”

View the full announcement on the Exciton Science website, or find the paper here.