n-tech Research Issues Research Note On Perovskite Photovoltaics Materials

Industry analyst firm n-tech Research today announced it has released a new research note updating the firm’s views on perovskite PV, the new wonder kid for the solar industry.  The paper titled, “Perovskite PV: Updating Our Views on Progress and Commercialization Timelines“ is available for download from the firm’s website at:  https://ntechresearch.com/articles/perovskite-pv-updating-our-views-on-progress-and-commercialization .  There is no cost to access the paper:

From the Paper:

• Perovskites, the new wonder material for solar photovoltaics (PV), continue to garner impressive attention. Its ascendance has been so impressive that two of the pioneers of dye-sensitized solar (DSC), Dyesol and Oxford PV, are betting their futures on it.  And there are good reasons that this material captured the industry’s fancy.
• One estimate suggests there are more than a thousand labs worldwide now working on perovskite materials. Much has to be not only improved in perovskite-based PV, but the material itself is wide open for further exploration and understanding. Recent progress in the past few months illustrates just how high the ceiling — and hurdles — seem to be.
• The promises are immensely attractive: delivering most of organic photovoltaics’ (OPV) benefits with efficiencies surpassing thin-film technologies and rivaling c-Si PV, and utilizing much simpler and cheaper manufacturing processes. At this point, though, the hurdles remain the same, and familiar to any organic materials-based device: proving it can be produced in large areas, and with long lifetimes in the neighborhood of other solar PV products.
• What kind of challenge does perovskite pose to other solar PV technologies? Thin-film PV (particularly CIGS) and perovskites would seem to have some overlaps in targeted end markets, most especially BIPV. Silicon-based PV, meanwhile, rules the world of flat-panel PV installations on buildings and ground-mount fields.
• Interestingly Dyesol claims it will go after utility, rooftop, and stand-alone installations first, and then target building integrated applications (BIPV) “in later development stages.” Company assessments suggest materials pricing of as little as $2/m² , less than a tenth of current liquid DSC materials.
• Tandem cells with perovskite and CIGS/silicon would seem to present the earliest opportunity to get this technology into end markets of BIPV and eventually flat-panel solar systems. However, BIPV has stubbornly resisted breaking out into a major end-market. c-Si technology and manufacturing is well established, but a glaring lack of profitability means changes and cost-adders are deeply scrutinized.
• We applaud Dyesol and Oxford PV’s commercialization plans, although to our thinking a 2017-2018 timeframe still feels a little aggressive. What we will continue to watch for, however, is how all the research interest in perovskites — in labs and by hopeful suppliers — may eventually evolve into actionable interest from investors. More improvements, particularly in hybrid devices and low-cost production techniques, likely will attract interest from within the industry and also from capital markets.
• As technology sector histories have shown, that’s often the true catalyst to solving development and commercialization issues and getting products ready for markets.

About n-tech Research

n-tech Research is the leading provider of market research and industry analysis for the advanced materials sector, with a special focus on the latest functional and smart materials. The company is the next evolution of NanoMarkets and represents a rebrand and more from what has been an extremely successful firm that started back in 2004.

Our reports and services are designed to identify the latest business opportunities, whether they involve printing, coating, or patterning materials. Our client roster is a who’s who of companies in specialty chemicals, materials, electronics applications and manufacturing.