Symbolic imageChina-led perovskite solar plant outperforms silicon in three-month field test
A China-led team says its one-megawatt perovskite solar system produced more electricity than a silicon plant at the same site. The findings appeared in the journal Nature last Wednesday.
The researchers installed the perovskite system next to a 3.5-megawatt silicon facility at the same solar farm and monitored both for three months, the South China Morning Post reported on Sunday. Measured per unit of installed capacity, the perovskite output was consistently higher: 3.42 per cent in March, 3.79 per cent in April and 5.81 per cent in May, with the gap widening as temperatures rose and sunlight grew stronger. The team presents the result as clearing the last major hurdle to commercialising perovskite, the main alternative to conventional silicon cells, and to building next-generation panels on an industrial scale.
A record for a table-sized module
Alongside the field trial, the group reported a panel roughly the size of a dining table that reached 22 per cent efficiency and 158.4 watts of output while withstanding the heat, humidity and temperature extremes required for commercial use. The SCMP calls that a record at this scale and describes the team's manufacturing approach as robust and industry-ready.