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A recent evaluation by FM highlights the importance of evaluating the entire BIPV façade assembly – including PV modules, cables, insulation, air cavities, and mounting systems – to accurately assess fire risks. Image: FM Building-integrated photovoltaic (BIPV) façade systems are transforming the aesthetics and energy profiles of modern high-rise buildings. However, their unique construction introduces new fire safety challenges. FM, leaders in commercial property insurance, recently evaluated the fire performance of five BIPV façade systems by conducting large-scale tests to investigate their fire safety challenges. The research – presented at Interflam 2025, an international conference in London on fire science and engineering – revealed that cavity fire spread, glass shattering, the burning of plastic encapsulants, and falling debris are the primary fire hazards related to cavity-wall BIPV facades. Large-scale tests using the 16-foot high parallel panel method of ISO 3957 showed that most BIPV systems exceeded the standard’s acceptable fire size criterion, with flames rapidly propagating through wall cavities, causing glass modules to shatter within minutes. These cavity fires fueled intensified combustion by releasing pyrolysates from the encapsulant and degrading adhesives, leading to PV module collapse. This introduced additional oxygen into the system, further accelerating fire growth. When PV modules were tested under maximum-power load conditions, fire hazards increased significantly for those with relatively thin glass modules. For these BIPVs, electrical preheating accelerated glass shattering and cavity fire propagation, with peak fire size rising by 50%-60% compared to when tested with modules in a no-load (open-circuit) state. These results suggest that real-world outdoor fire scenarios could be even more severe than indoor tests indicate. Flexible BIPV modules examined in FM’s research, which lack glass superstrates and cavities, exhibited extremely rapid vertical flame spread, with peak fire size far exceeding those of cavity-wall BIPV systems. The study found that existing fire certifications of BIPV modules, such as EN 13501 and ANSI/UL 1703, do not reliably correlate with their large-scale façade fire performance. The findings highlight the importance of evaluating the entire BIPV façade assembly – including PV modules, cables, insulation, air cavities, and mounting systems – to accurately assess fire risks. As BIPV adoption grows, these insights will inform future standards, installation guidelines, and product development, helping architects, engineers, and building owners make safer, more informed choices. FM’s research sets a new benchmark for fire safety in BIPV façade systems, paving the way for more resilient, code-compliant solar facades. The results will contribute towards developing a new FM Approvals Examination Standard 4483 for wall-mounted BIPV systems. The study was authored by Gaurav Agarwal, Dong Zeng, and Yi Wang of FM’s research division. A full technical report related to this research is available on FM.com. This content is protected by copyright and may not be reused. If you want to cooperate with us and would like to reuse some of our content, please contact: editors@pv-magazine.com. This article is powered by fmcontent, in partnership with pv magazine. More articles from FM Please be mindful of our community standards. Your email address will not be published.Required fields are marked *
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Swansea University researchers found that perovskite solar cells can tolerate dusty fabrication environments, performing almost as well as those made in cleanrooms. The findings suggest low-cost, scalable production may be possible without ultra-sterile conditions, potentially accelerating cell and module manufacturing. Device stack schematics for carbon and gold-contact architectures (left), dust deposition on a glass/ITO substrate prior to SnO₂ deposition (top right), and electroluminescence mapping comparing control devices with those exposed to dust, showing localized defects (bottom right). Image: Swansea University, Communications Materials, CC BY 4.0 A research team from Swansea University in the United Kingdom has investigated how dusty fabrication environments affect perovskite solar cells and have found that devices exposed to dust performed similarly to those produced in clean conditions, with only minor losses in some performance metrics. “Our findings are a major win for the future of affordable green energy,” said Kat Lacey, lead author of the study. “For a long time, we believed high-quality perovskite solar cells had to be made in expensive, ultra-sterile environments. However, our research shows that these cells are surprisingly resilient – they can still perform remarkably well even when exposed to common dust.” Lacey called the results “game-changing,” explaining they can fast-track the development of low-cost renewable energy manufacturing facilities in new areas. “While there is still a need to test how this holds up on a larger, industrial scale, these results are a massive first step,” she said. “We’ve shown that the path to a sustainable future might be a lot less complicated, and a lot less expensive, than we previously thought.” The experiments were conducted in a dust box, with test dust applied on PV devices. The test dust had a particle size distribution comparable to cleanroom standards, with about 90% by volume below 5 μm. The devices were exposed to dust for about three minutes, equivalent to dust exposure of 24-66 hours in standard laboratories and corridor areas, or 58-370 days in different classes of cleanrooms. Two types of devices were tested. The first was a standard laboratory stack composed of tin(IV) oxide (SnO₂) as the electron-transport layer (ETL), methylammonium lead iodide (MAPI) as the perovskite light-absorbing layer, spiro-MeOTAD as the hole-transport layer (HTL), and gold as the top electrode. The second type was a future-ready stack designed for scalable manufacturing, consisting of tin(IV) oxide (SnO₂), methylammonium lead iodide (MAPI), poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) (PEDOT) as the HTL, and carbon as the top electrode, making it compatible with roll-to-roll (R2R) production techniques. In both cases, dust was deliberately introduced at different stages of fabrication—specifically, before the deposition of the ETL, the perovskite absorber, or the HTK, to assess how contamination at each interface affects device performance. For each condition, the researchers fabricated otherwise identical devices, free of dust, in a cleanroom environment, which served as reference samples. Results revealed that devices with dust performed similarly to clean devices, with only limited performance losses, most pronounced in short-circuit current density, resulting in small reductions in power conversion efficiency. At the same time, open-circuit voltage and fill factor remained largely unaffected. “The perovskite crystals simply grew around and over the dust particles without significantly impacting the device’s ability to generate current,” the researchers said in a statement. “Contamination did not cause the cells to degrade any faster than other mechanisms, even when exposed to high heat and humidity.” Their findings have appeared in “Manufacturing planar perovskite solar cells in dusty environments,” published in Communications Materials. “These findings go some way towards answering whether good quality planar perovskite solar cells can be made outside of a cleanroom environment, with results showing that even with many non-conductive dust particles present, devices can still perform well,” the academics concluded. “These findings also suggest that at research level when making lab scale devices that a cleanroom may not be essential when it comes to devices and materials suitable for upscaling, and if it is required may not need to be much more than the lowest level of control for dust particles.” This content is protected by copyright and may not be reused. If you want to cooperate with us and would like to reuse some of our content, please contact: editors@pv-magazine.com. More articles from Lior Kahana Please be mindful of our community standards. Your email address will not be published.Required fields are marked *
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Are wind and solar farms a rural windfall or a blight on the landscape? Communities are grappling with questions of land use. Neighbors to a proposed, large-scale solar farm southwest of Lincoln are appealing a judge’s recent decision affirming the Lancaster County Board’s approval of a special-use permit for the project. People attend a Lancaster County Board meeting Jan. 14, 2025, at the County-City Building. Opponents and supporters of a large solar farm planned for southern Lancaster County offered testimony for six hours on the proposed $600 million, 304-megawatt solar project, which Florida company NextEra Energy wants to build on 2,400 acres east of Hallam.
Get the latest in local public safety news with this weekly email. Are wind and solar farms a rural windfall or a blight on the landscape? Communities are grappling with questions of land use. People attend a Lancaster County Board meeting Jan. 14, 2025, at the County-City Building. Opponents and supporters of a large solar farm planned for southern Lancaster County offered testimony for six hours on the proposed $600 million, 304-megawatt solar project, which Florida company NextEra Energy wants to build on 2,400 acres east of Hallam. Get up-to-the-minute news sent straight to your device. Sorry, an error occurred.
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Editor 25 March 2026 THE DEPARTMENT for Energy Security and ‘Net Zero’ and the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government have outlined plans for ‘plug-in’ solar panels to be made available in shops within months, offering households the chance to cut their energy bills. However, the announcement has raised significant concerns in some quarters in relation to fire safety. The current conflict in the Middle East, suggests central Government, is “yet another reminder” that “the only route” to energy security and sovereignty for the UK is to end the dependence on fossil fuel markets and accelerate the drive for clean homegrown power, as well as new renewables and nuclear. Indeed, the Government has already taken significant steps in speeding up the move towards clean energy in response to the Middle East scenario. The annual renewables auction, for example, has been brought forward to July. The most recent auction was the biggest one to date and, alongside the previous iteration, means that enough clean energy to power circa 23 million homes has been confirmed. Now, the Government is driving forward with the aforementioned roll-out of ‘plug-in’ solar panels (ie low-cost panels that families can put on their balconies or outdoor spaces) to be made available in High Street shops and save people money on their energy bills. Retailers including Lidl and Iceland, alongside manufacturers such as EcoFlow, are working with Government to enable these panels to be brought to the UK market. The Government notes: “The free solar power can be used directly through a mains socket like any other device, without an installation cost, thereby reducing the amount of electricity taken from the grid and cutting energy bills.” Positive step Georgina Hall, corporate affairs director at Lidl, noted: “At Lidl GB, we’re committed to making sustainable living affordable for everyone. We welcome the Government’s move to modernise regulations in the UK. Updating the regulatory landscape for this ‘plug-and-play’ technology is a positive step towards empowering British households to manage their energy costs and support the nation’s ‘Net Zero’ ambitions.” Chris Norbury, CEO of E.ON UK, commented: “Cutting red tape on ‘plug-in’ solar is an encouraging move and we will help to ensure that it works either alongside, or as part of, whole-home solutions that genuinely empower people to take control of their energy use and cut bills.” Chris Hewett, CEO of Solar Energy UK, explained: “Expanding solar energy and battery storage is a rapid and inexpensive solution to the looming energy crisis for cutting bills, for the economy and for our nation’s energy security. From the largest installations through to the smallest domestic systems, every battery and panel counts towards weaning us off the reliance on imported and polluting fossil fuels. That’s why ensuring that new homes and other buildings are constructed with solar and boosting retrofits is so vital and welcome.” Energy Secretary Ed Miliband stated: “The Iran War has once again shown that the drive for clean power is essential for our energy security so we can escape from the grip of fossil fuel markets we don’t control. Whether through solar panels fitted as standard on new homes or making it possible for people to purchase ‘plug-in’ solar solutions in shops, we’re determined to roll-out clean power so that we can give our country energy sovereignty.” Concern among consultants The Government’s plans have raised the alarm bell over fire safety. Stuart Patience (director and head of energy solutions at built environment consultancy Hollis) informed Fire Safety Matters: “Buying ‘plug-in’ solar panels from the supermarket sounds like a great idea in principle, but it’s not like picking up a pint of milk or a tin of beans. There will assuredly be savings in energy costs for thousands of people, but we should always be aware of the risks.” In theory, ‘plug-in’ solar could open solar PV to the masses, notably so renters and flat owners who’ve been locked out of the market to date, but it also has the potential to present a much bigger issue. “There’s a huge difference between making solar more available and making it safe,” suggested Patience. “Right now, the push for ‘plug-in’ solar feels more like a headline-grabbing story than a fully worked through plan for safe installation and long-term use. The idea is attractive. The details and safety considerations are limited.” The first critical question to be addressed revolves around who’s fitting these systems. “Solar PV is not a casual ‘plug-and-play’ lifestyle product. It’s an electrical product with serious safety and fire risks attached. If these systems are sold through mainstream retailers without clear requirements around competent installation, inspection and sign-off, the industry could be opening the door to widespread non-compliant electrical work.” According to Patience, this is where any lack of electrical competency checks becomes a serious concern. “If the Government is encouraging householders to buy systems ‘off-the-shelf’ and plug them in, they don’t have any verification of who has installed or inspected them or whether their existing electrical system can cope with the additional load. These products only weaken competency controls and installation quality, which could well be a recipe for disaster.” Grid connection requirements There’s also the unresolved issue of grid connection requirements and planning rules that are already in place. Traditional solar installations are subject to established processes for network connection, technical assessment and, in some cases, planning consent, all of which exist to protect both building safety and grid stability. “The Government’s announcement ducks the wider building safety issues,” asserted Patience. “These ‘plug-in’ solar panels could introduce combustible materials, new ignition sources and additional loading to balconies and external surfaces. In higher-risk residential buildings, particularly so those already facing cladding or other fire safety remediation issues, this is a major unresolved issue that could cause serious structural and fire safety-related problems.” Will these systems be lightly regulated or folded into the current framework? “Until that’s made clear,” continued Patience, “there’s a real risk that mass adoption of these technologies could significantly impact the grid capacity and the rules designed to keep installations safe, lawful and fit for purpose.” Battery storage makes that risk even more worrying. “There’s a possibility that battery storage could be added to this proposal, which changes the conversation immediately. The industry needs to consider how to manage an unextinguishable fire in a high-rise building or residential property, caused by thermal runaway, which is when the lithium battery cell overheats and releases flammable gases that continually burn until they run out or explode. The prospect of solar PV and battery storage being introduced into high-rise flats without a robust competency framework in place should set alarm bells ringing right across the sector.” The issue is not just about installation, either. It’s also about what happens afterwards. “Solar PV is not something consumers can simply buy, forget about and assume will look after itself. Performance, safety and compliance all depend on proper ongoing maintenance, monitoring and user understanding. If owners are not properly educated on safe operation, routine checks, fault signs, shutdown procedures and when to call in the specialists, small issues have the potential to turn into life-threatening situations.” As far as Patience is concerned, the worrying factor is that the Government’s announcement “barely touches” on risk, compliance or competency. “It’s being sold as a good news solution to confront energy pressure and rising bills, but it says far too little about the safeguards needed to make it work safely. Without proper competency checks, strong regulations and serious user education on maintenance, installation and safe use, it risks becoming a dangerous shortcut.” Response from Electrical Safety First Also responding to the Government’s plans to make ‘plug-in’ solar panels widely available to the public, Luke Osborne (technical director of Electrical Safety First) observed: “Electrical Safety First welcomes the announcement of the Future Homes Standard. However, while we recognise the potential for ‘plug-in’ solar panel systems to make renewable energy more accessible for millions of people, safety must come first. Recent investigations conducted by the charity have highlighted that, at present, ‘plug-in’ solar systems supply power to household circuits in a way currently not permitted by regulations.” Osborne added: “While the risk remains low, without wiring regulation changes and under certain conditions, ‘plug-in’ solar PV systems connected to standard household sockets can cause overheating or otherwise impair the operation of protective devices such as RCDs.” Further, Osborne commented: “We are pleased to see the Government intends to address these issues. New safety standards should be introduced rapidly to ensure households can safely enjoy the benefits of ‘plug-in’ solar. We look forward to working with the Government to address these issues in detail.” By way of a warning, Osborne concluded: “With the introduction of any new technology comes the risk of substandard versions making their way on to the market through unscrupulous sellers. We continue to call for online marketplaces to be better regulated in order to prevent unsafe products from being made available to households both now and in the future.” 1/401 (1 to 10 of 4008)
Roger Pielke Jr. Today’s post starts with a simple question: Can wind turbines and solar panels be created from a supply chain powered by wind turbines and solar panels? The answer is no. Wind turbines and solar panels come from supply chains that are fossil fuel intensive and technological options to replace those fossil fuels in their production do not yet exist, and may never exist. This post unpacks the details. To be absolutely clear, what follows is not an argument against wind and solar. THB readers will know that I am bullish on solar and not so much on wind. I’ve long argued that the lowest hanging fruit for large emissions reductions is dirty coal plants, which can be replaced with natural gas, nuclear, as well as wind and solar with storage. Today’s post is an exercise in understanding quantitatively the true challenges of an energy transition and move beyond the claim that we have all the technology we need for deep decarbonization — typically emphasizing extensive deployment of wind and solar energy generation, accompanied by battery storage. So-called “renewables” are not remotely renewable. To be sure, solar and wind technologies, coupled with storage, can contribute to the decarbonization of electricity. However, they are each built on a deep foundation of fossil fuels.1 Let’s look at some numbers.
The IEA’s Net Zero by 2050 roadmap calls for solar PV capacity to increase 20x and wind power 11x. These increases require that annual solar additions must reach 630 GW per year by 2030 and wind must see annual increases of 390 GW. Battery storage must increase 14x to 1,200 GW by 2030. These numbers imply an unprecedented mobilization of materials and industrial production. For example: The manufacturing of wind turbines, solar panels, and batteries at scale is not a niche activity in a few high-tech factories. It requires the sustained output of the entire global heavy industrial base — steel mills, cement plants, copper smelters, aluminum refineries, petrochemical complexes, glass furnaces, and the shipping networks connecting them. Every one of those industries currently runs on fossil fuels, with no commercial zero-carbon alternatives widely deployed in its most energy-intensive processes. Making primary steel from iron ore — about 70 percent of global production — requires metallurgical coking coal in a blast furnace at around 1,500°C. Coal is not simply burned as fuel to create very high heat, it is also used in the chemical process that removes oxygen from iron ore to make iron. In 2023, less than 1 Mt of near-zero emission steel was produced globally, of a total global production of 1,889.2 Mt. In its Net Zero 2050 scenario, the IEA projects that steelmaking in 2050 would still use significant coal — for ~22 percent of energy input — and theoretically paired with carbon capture and storage that does not yet exist at commercial scale. The foundation under a wind turbine is reinforced concrete. Cement kilns run at around 1,450°C, and about two-thirds of cement’s CO₂ comes not from burning fuel but from a chemical reaction that happens regardless of what source heats the kiln. Full decarbonization of cement has been projected to double its cost and also requires industrial-scale carbon capture and storage that does not yet exist. Solar panels are similarly carbon intensive. Producing solar-grade polysilicon requires smelting quartz at 1,500–2,000°C, followed by chemically intensive purification. According to the IEA’s Special Report on Solar PV Global Supply Chains, coal generates more than 60 percent of the electricity used in global solar manufacturing and in China, which dominates solar manufacturing, that figure exceeds 75 percent. The glass covering a solar panel — about 75 percent of its weight — is made in furnaces at around 1,100°C fueled by natural gas or coal. The aluminum frame requires fossil-fuelled smelting. The silver contacts come from diesel-powered mines. Other materials come from petrochemicals. Then, panels are shipped around the world on vessels burning heavy fuel oil. There is another category of fossil fuel dependency in solar panel and wind turbine supply chains: chemical feedstocks, necessary to create the many components necessary to assemble the final products.2 Wind, solar, and battery manufacturing necessarily depend upon the petrochemical industry, which the IEA projects will continue growing through 2050 in every scenario. Batteries, necessary to store electricity when the wind does not blow and the sun does not shine, are fossil fuel intensive as well.3 Batteries last ~10–13 years, which means they need replacing two or three times over the life of wind or solar generation assets they are paired with, which have lifespans of ~25-30 years. Every replacement cycle is a full repeat of mining, smelting, and manufacturing.4 Wind turbines, solar panels, and batteries are products of the entire global industrial base. That base accounts for about 37 percent of global energy-related CO₂ emissions, with five heavy industries — cement, steel, oil and gas, chemicals, and coal mining — accounting for 80 percent of all industrial emissions. The figure below shows an estimate of the carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions from manufacturing supply-chains for new wind, solar, and battery capacity. Annual emissions have grown from ~4 Mt in 2000 to ~470 Mt in 2023 — about 1.3 percent of global energy CO₂, and comparable to the total annual emissions of South Korea or Canada. That growth is a pure volume effect: manufacturing carbon intensity per GW has fallen substantially, but absolute emissions have risen because deployment scale has grown much faster than intensity has declined.
We can get a sense of the technological challenge of decarbonizing supply chains for wind and solar by looking at net zero scenarios and backing out what they imply in terms of needed resources. In a 2008 paper in Nature with Tom Wigley and Christopher Green, we called this a “frozen technology baseline” — If we freeze technologies at today’s level and then look at what projections imply for the future, that then tells use how much technological improvement is actually assumed in the scenarios. We argued that “it is only with a clear-eyed view of the mitigation challenge that we can ever hope to adopt effective policies.” In the exercise, manufacturing carbon intensity is frozen at 2024 levels, and I explore implied carbon dioxide emissions implied to 2050. The point is not to predict the future. It is to isolate the effects of assumed technological innovation within scenarios. Advances in technology do not occur on predictible schedules, however scenarios of deep decarbonization often assume JITTI — Just In Time Technological Innovation.5 JITTI allows scenarios to assume technologies necessary for deep decarbonization will appear at global and industrial scale just when the world needs them to transform the global energy system. Convenient! The figure below shows projected CO₂ emissions from wind, solar, and battery supply chains projected to 2050 under a frozen technology baseline for the IEA’s net zero scenario (NZE), its stated policies scenario (STEPS), and a simple extension of the historical trend.6 The historical data in the figure is the same found in the figure above, which gives a sense of scale. The results are incredible — and described in more detail below.
In the IEA’s Stated Policies Scenario (STEPS), annual supply-chain manufacturing emissions are ~870 Mt by 2030 and ~1,600 Mt by 2050. That 2050 figure exceeds Japan’s entire national CO₂ output today — with a population of 125 million and a $4 trillion economy — and approaches the combined annual fossil CO₂ of Germany, France, the United Kingdom, Italy, and Spain. In the IEA’s Net Zero Emissions Scenario (NZE), supply-chain emissions are ~1,540 Mt by 2030 alone — similar to the combined emissions of Germany, France, and the United Kingdom. By 2050 in the NZE, the figure is ~4,000 Mt — comparable to the current annual fossil CO₂ of the United States, or ~10% of today’s total global emissions of carbon dioxide from energy. The NZE scenario requires the most new infrastructure, so it generates the most supply-chain emissions under frozen technology assumptions. For deep decarbonization to occur, both the massive hardware build-out and the assumed decarbonization of the global industrial base must happen simultaneously. Consider that the IEA NZE roadmap requires that every month from 2030 onwards, ten heavy industrial plants are equipped with carbon capture and storage, three new hydrogen-based industrial plants are built, and 2 GW of electrolyser capacity is added at industrial sites. That is the minimum background rate of industrial transformation required just to keep the scenario on track, independent of the deployment of wind, solar, and batteries across global grids. The narrow focus on wind, solar, and batteries by many climate advocates obscures the fact that these technologies do not emerge spontaneously from zero carbon industrial processes. The steel industry accounts for roughly 7–9 percent of global CO₂ annually. Cement accounts for another 6 percent. Copper, aluminum, chemicals, and the petrochemical feedstocks woven through every component add more. These are industries with capital stock turning over only once every 25–40 years, where investment decisions made today lock in emissions profiles for decades. Wind and solar do reduce overall emissions when they displace fossil generation on the grid. But the energy transition is not simply a story of replacing electricity generation from fossil fuels system with lower carbon alternatives. Far more importantly, it is a story of transforming the foundations of the global industrial base — and today, that transformation is a long way off.7 Scenarios of deep decarbonization have long assumed that technological progress would achieve what is required on schedules that align with political targets. The next time you hear numbers on the deployment of wind, solar, and batteries, acknowledge that reality, and then ask about rates of decarbonization in steel, cement, copper, aluminum, petrochemicals, glass, shipping and the other foundations of the modern world.
Waaree Energies has approved a capital expenditure of INR 39 billion ($415 million) to build a solar glass manufacturing facility with a capacity of 2,500 metric tons (MT) per day through its subsidiary Waaree Green Glass. Image: Waaree Energies From pv magazine India Waaree Energies has approved a capital expenditure of INR 39 billion to set up a solar glass manufacturing plant with a capacity of 2,500 MT per day. The facility will be developed through its wholly owned subsidiary, Waaree Green Glass, and funded through a mix of debt and internal accruals. The company’s board has also approved the acquisition of an additional equity stake in its subsidiary, Waaree Transpower (formerly Kotsons), increasing its shareholding from 64.04% to 75.10%. The transaction, valued at around INR 1.9 billion, will be carried out via cash consideration at INR 75 per share (face value INR 10), for the acquisition of around 25.3 million equity shares. The deal is expected to be completed by June 2026. Waaree Transpower designs, manufactures, and supplies advanced transformer solutions. The company said the additional stake will support capacity expansion and capital expenditure requirements. This content is protected by copyright and may not be reused. If you want to cooperate with us and would like to reuse some of our content, please contact: editors@pv-magazine.com. More articles from Uma Gupta Please be mindful of our community standards. Your email address will not be published.Required fields are marked *
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0 By clicking the button, I accept the Terms of Use of the service and its Privacy Policy, as well as consent to the processing of personal data. Don’t have an account? Signup Follow Us Maldives, 25th March 2026: Siyam World Maldives, part of Sun Siyam Resorts’ Lifestyle Collection, has recently reached an important sustainability milestone with the successful energising of the first phase of its solar photovoltaic (PV) system, generating 300 kW of renewable power as part of a larger on-island solar programme expected to reach 2.7 MW in total capacity at Siyam World. This installation forms part of Sun Siyam’s broader renewable energy strategy under the Sun Siyam Care sustainability framework, which aims to significantly reduce reliance on diesel-based systems across its portfolio. With the system now partially operational, Siyam World is generating approximately 1,080 kWh of clean energy per day, reducing diesel consumption by an estimated 280 litres daily while lowering the island’s carbon footprint. “This is the kind of progress we are proud to see at Siyam World, practical, forward-looking, and genuinely impactful for the island. Our team has worked hard to bring this project to life, and it is exciting to see solar energy playing a growing role in powering our operations”.For us, sustainability must go beyond a statement. It needs to translate into meaningful action that delivers real environmental value while strengthening the long-term resilience of the business. This approach is very much aligned with the vision of our founder, Ahmed Siyam Mohamed.” Ausy Waseem, Resort Manager at Siyam World The solar programme contributes to several key pillars of Sun Siyam Care, including the transition towards renewable energy, improved resource efficiency, and the development of local expertise. Across the group, these initiatives are expected to generate close to six million kWh of renewable energy annually, while also supporting the training of engineering teams in solar system management and maintenance. Siyam World has already taken meaningful steps in its sustainability journey. In 2025, the resort launched its Plastic Upcycling Center, an initiative that transforms plastic waste into durable logs used to produce furniture and other functional items, helping to reduce landfill waste while giving materials a second life.With solar energy now beginning to power the island and further phases underway, Siyam World continues to demonstrate that innovative sustainability initiatives and vibrant island experiences can go hand in hand.
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Germany is home to 1.2 million households with installed solar panels, tapping into solar power. But elsewhere, the adoption of these systems is meeting stiff opposition from power utilities. Easy-to-use solar panels that can be easily installed on one’s balcony or even window are hugely popular in Germany. However, elsewhere, these panels have not seen similar success, prompting the question of whether they are purposely being delayed by utility companies. When individuals buy easy-to-use solar panels, they can generate some electricity every day. While this is not enough to offset monthly electrical bills, it does reduce demand on the utility company. When a large number of users switch to their own tiny power generation units, overall demand from the utility company falls, which might be a reason for opposition to these panels, say advocates for solar panels. Utilities in the US have flagged safety concerns regarding easy-to-use solar panels. For starters, these panels are not installed on rooftops and are therefore more accessible to the public. Since the unit generates electricity, utility companies consider it a shock hazard. On a larger scale, these panels could also feed electricity into the grid. Rooftop solar solutions also do the same, but require registration first. If registration for plug-in solar panels is not mandatory, utility companies are worried that a unit could feed electricity into power lines during a planned maintenance outage, risking lineworker safety. Utilities are demanding stricter registration requirements for plug-in solar panels and certifications for their safety, which might increase the cost of installing these panels and slow adoption. Customers are keen to install these solar panels because they reduce their dependence on utility companies and provide the satisfaction of using a renewable resource for their energy needs. In the US, most electricity demand is met by burning fossil fuels, so increasing solar panel use is a good thing. States like Utah have enacted legislation to eliminate complex utility connectionagreements for plug-in solar panels, making it easier for people to install them. It also makes it easier for people to move their panels when they move house, too. While similar legislation has been introduced in other states for discussion, safety concerns raised by utilities have led to its being dropped. Customers are keen for policy support like Germany’s, where over 1.2 million users continue to use plug-in solar panels without any incidents, say non-profits advocating for plug-in solar. The opposition likely does not stem from concerns about people’s safety but rather from their business model, say non-profits. Every kilowatt-hour of energy produced by a plug-in solar panel reduces the utility company’s demand for electricity, which can be disastrous for the company’s financials in the long run. 2026 Meteored. All rights reserved
Australia’s national science agency says AI-driven robots could reshape solar maintenance across large-scale PV projects after successfully trialing the cutting-edge technology. Image: CSIRO From pv magazine Australia The Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) has repurposed robots originally designed for the mining industry to undertake maintenance inspections at large-scale solar farms in Australia. The CSIRO said the autonomous robots, that utilise cameras and sensors to create a digital map of a solar farm and artificial- intelligence software to identify maintenance issues, have been successfully tested at utility-scale projects in Queensland and New South Wales. Researchers at the science agency said the AI-driven robots are equipped with a suite of sensors including cameras for visual inspections, an infrared camera to detect hotspots and electrical faults, and Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) technology for accurate 3D perception and mapping. They are programmed to autonomously navigate solar farms in all terrains and conditions, to build precise maps to digitize site conditions, avoids hazards and develop a holistic scene understanding. CSIRO Senior Robotics Engineer Ross Dungavell said the AI-powered robots can automatically detect faults in the project’s PV panels, including dust build-up, insect nests or bird droppings, physical damage, loose nuts or bolts, hotspots in panels or electrical connectors, and wiring that needs repair. “The robot logs and stores every piece of data it captures, its sensors are able to find any fault a panel might have,” he said. Dungavell said the integration of robotics and AI technology into the solar farm space for predictive maintenance will lower maintenance costs, improve efficiency and safety, help maintain panel performance, enhance stability of energy output and extends asset lifespan. The technology also reduces the need for people to undertake inspections on foot, shifting the focus from repetitive manual tasks to the creation of skilled jobs targeting technical work in solar farm maintenance, robotics support and data analysis. “It’s good to fulfil a need in areas of the country where the labor is not attainable or reliably available,” Dungavell said. “Often you cannot get someone to go out there under such harsh conditions, for extended periods of time.” CSIRO Senior Principal Research Scientist Peyman Moghadam said the introduction of robotics into solar operations is a game-changer for Australia’s large-scale solar sector. “We are not just collecting images or 3D data,” he said. “We are building the foundations for intelligent solar operations, where data from robots, fixed sensors and field systems can be combined. This supports better proactive maintenance decisions and more resilient performance over time.” The CSIRO said it is continuing to trial the robotic and AI systems across pilot sites and is planning to partner with industry to make the technology more broadly available. This content is protected by copyright and may not be reused. If you want to cooperate with us and would like to reuse some of our content, please contact: editors@pv-magazine.com. More articles from David Carroll Please be mindful of our community standards. Your email address will not be published.Required fields are marked *
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The South Korean government has launched a national drive to establish community-owned village solar cooperatives across the country, with more than 500 sites to be selected this year and KRW 550 billion ($366.4 million) in national funds earmarked for 2026. Image: pv magazine, AI generated South Korea’s Ministry of the Interior and Safety (MOIS) has announced a public competition opening at the end of March for its Sunlight Income Village program, under which rural village communities form cooperatives to install and operate solar power plants on idle local land and share the revenue among residents. More than 500 villages are to be selected this year, with applications to be accepted in two rounds – the first closing at the end of May, the second at the end of July. The program targets more than 2,500 villages by 2030, drawn from approximately 38,000 administrative villages nationwide. Individual installations are sized at 300 kW to 1 MW, centered on public land, village land, reservoirs, and reserve farmland. Use of domestically produced modules and inverters is mandatory. The MOIS is leading the program in cooperation with the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs (MAFRA) and the Ministry of Climate, Energy and Environment (MCEE), supported by a public-private joint field support team that includes Korea Electric Power Corp. (Kepco), the Korea Energy Agency, the Korea Rural Community Corporation (KRC), and the Korea Water Resources Corp. (K-water). The team, led by provincial governments, is scheduled to begin operations in April and will include on-site consulting for cooperative formation and an idle land survey by KRC and K-water to identify available sites. Financing support covers long-term, low-interest loans for up to 85% of installation costs, drawn from approximately KRW 450 billion in renewable energy financial support available in 2026. In areas experiencing population decline, local governments may use a dedicated Local Extinction Response Fund to cover residents’ remaining cost share. New renewable energy cooperatives and facilities are eligible for acquisition tax exemptions and property tax reductions. Grid connection – identified by the government as the program’s largest obstacle – will be addressed through amendments to the Electric Utility Act and the Distributed Energy Special Act to grant Sunlight Income Village projects priority grid access. Energy storage system (ESS) installation support will be provided in parallel where grid capacity is insufficient. The program builds on earlier community solar initiatives in South Korea. In Guyang-ri, a village in Yeoju, Gyeonggi province, a resident cooperative installed solar plants on village warehouses and parking lots and uses electricity sale revenue to fund free lunches at the community center and operate a free village bus. South Korea has been moving on several solar policy fronts simultaneously in recent months. In February, the National Assembly amended the renewable energy framework to restrict local setback rules for PV projects, removing a permitting barrier that had long slowed deployment. The same month, the government announced KRW 321 billion in 2026 funding to upgrade regional distribution networks and deploy 85 energy storage systems. South Korea has also signaled it will introduce dedicated rules for agrivoltaics – a model relevant to the idle farmland the Sunlight Income Village program intends to use. This content is protected by copyright and may not be reused. If you want to cooperate with us and would like to reuse some of our content, please contact: editors@pv-magazine.com. More articles from Brian Publicover Please be mindful of our community standards. Your email address will not be published.Required fields are marked *
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By David Manners Posted on 25th March 2026 | Modified on 25th March 2026
More than 100 companies in China, led by CATL and BYD, are mass producing thin, light-weight perovskite solar cells, reports the Nikkei. Last year, UtmoLight started up what is intended to be a 1GW factory making 1.8 million cells a year with a conversion efficiency of 17.44%. Hangzhou Microquanta Semiconductor Technology has been in production for four years with a 100MW annual capacity. Last year, Kunshan GCL Optoelectronic Materials brought up a $726 million with a capacity of 1GW intendingto rise to 2GW. Renshine Solar (pictured) makes perovskite modules and considered to be a top ten producer. Hiking PV started construction of a 7 GWperovskite tandem cell facility in 2023, aiming for completion by late 2025. Mellow Energy is building a 100 MWand targeting GW‑scale capacity. MicroQuantahas commissioned an 8.2 MW plant using its 90 W perovskite panels. With the power conversion efficiency of silicon solar cells approaching its theoretical limit, perovskite solar cells offer countless combinations of materials that create significant room for improvement. See all our Perovskite content. David Manners David Manners has more than forty-years experience writing about the electronics industry, its major trends and leading players. As well as writing business, components and research news, he is the author of the site’s most popular blog, Mannerisms. This features series of posts such as Fables, Markets, Shenanigans, and Memory Lanes, across a wide range of topics. Tagged with: Perovskite Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *
Saudi Arabia had a record year for solar deployment last year, taking cumulative capacity past 12.4 GW. GlobalData is forecasting annual deployments to increase in the coming years but notes that they remain behind the pace required to meet the country’s target of 130 GW of renewables by 2030, instead nearing the goal by 2035. Image: Omar Al-Ghosson/Unsplash Saudi Arabia installed around 7.8 GW of solar last year, according to analysis from UK-based consultancy GlobalData. GlobalData says Saudi Arabia’s cumulative solar capacity increased from 4,665 MW at the end of 2024 to an estimated 12,465 MW by the end of last year. The growth is the largest in a calendar year in Saudi Arabia to date and with the country’s total renewables capacity standing at around 13 GW, makes solar the dominant form of renewables in the country. Looking ahead, GlobalData is expecting around 5.2 GW of solar to be added this year, and 9.6 GW to be added in 2027, taking cumulative capacity to 27.3 GW by the end of next year. The consultancy then forecasts annual solar additions between 12 GW and 14 GW for the years 2028 to 2035, which would take Saudi Arabia’s cumulative solar capacity past 50 GW in 2029 to 67.2 GW by the end of the decade. This trajectory would see the 100 GW threshold surpassed in 2033, growing to 129.7 GW by 2035. Image: GlobalData GlobalData’s analysis notes that this growth trajectory falls behind the pace required to reach a target of 130 GW of renewable power capacity by 2030, as set in the most recent version of the Saudi Arabia Vision 2030. To reach the target, the country would need to add over 23 GW of renewables annually. Attaurrahman Ojindaram Saibasan, Power Analyst at GlobalData, told pv magazine that to in order to increase its forecast solar additions, Saudi Arabia should publish a credible five-to-ten year solar build-out pipeline with standardized, bankable power purchase agreements (PPAs) and regular auctions, backed by strict delivery milestones to prevent delays. “In parallel, it should speed project execution by streamlining permitting and land access through a one-stop process, pre-developing solar zones, and making interconnection transparent with clear queues, timelines, and published grid hosting capacity,” Saibasan added. Saibasan also explained that Saudi Arabia needs major grid and flexibility investments to absorb much more solar, highlighting the need for new transmission to resource areas, better forecasting and grid codes for inverter-based resources, and large-scale PV-plus-storage procurement to cover evening peaks and limit curtailment. “It should also expand distributed solar via simple net billing/wheeling for businesses, mobilize low-cost finance such as green bonds/sukuk guarantees, build cost-effective local supply chains and workforce, and adopt desert-optimized O&M standards,” Saibasan said. Growth in Saudi Arabia’s solar market is led by gigawatt-sized utility-scale projects. Among the projects to come online last year were three belonging to Riyadh-based developer ACWA Power totaling 2.79 GW of new operational capacity. The sixth phase of Saudi Arabia’s national renewable energy program concluded last year, awarding 3 GW of solar, including a project that was won at the second-lowest levelized cost of electricity for solar energy in history. The seventh round has already kicked off, covering 3.1 GW across four solar projects. Last year also saw the Saudi Power Procurement Company sign five solar PPAs totaling 12 GW and two wind PPAs totaling 3 GW, together billed as the largest renewable energy capacity signed for in a single phase globally to date. The projects are scheduled to be operational across 2027 and 2028. Saibasan added that that in the coming years, the main drivers of Saudi Arabia’s solar market are likely to shift towards grid integration and flexibility, bringing faster interconnection and a focus on large-scale solar-plus-storage. “Additional pull should come from electricity-demand growth and electrification, a larger role for private/C&I solar and corporate PPAs as regulations mature and potentially export-linked decarbonization, via green hydrogen and green industrial products supported by improved permitting and financing tools,” Saibasan told pv magazine. Last month, research from Saudi Arabia’s King Abdullah Petroleum Studies and Research Center outlined pathways for the country to reach net-zero power sector emissions by 2060, calculating that deploying 151.3 GW of solar would cover only 0.16% of the country. This content is protected by copyright and may not be reused. If you want to cooperate with us and would like to reuse some of our content, please contact: editors@pv-magazine.com. More articles from Patrick Jowett Please be mindful of our community standards. Your email address will not be published.Required fields are marked *
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When a solar panel or battery reaches the end of its service life, what happens next can make all the difference to the environment and to local communities. As South Africa’s solar panels begin to be decommissioned ‘circular uses’ like those in Energy 4 Hope will be vital for sustainability Equipped with a custom-designed truck and trailer, and purpose-built transportation crates, the initiative guarantees the safe, compliant transportation of the collected renewable equipment to avoid breakages, with the added capability for field inspections. This secure logistics chain is supported by the active participation of local NGOs and technicians. Their involvement at every stage turns a technical installation into a community-led success story, to bridge the gap between high-standard engineering and grassroots development. iKhethelo Children’s Village in Durban’s Valley of a Thousand Hills, where orphaned and vulnerable children in KwaZulu- Natal, South Africa, are given new hope Circular Energy uses a specalised custom Volvo truck to safely transport these solar panels
The worst kind of vehicle emissions aren’t the ones that move dirt or haul freight – they’re the ones that don’t. Every hour, every minute, ever second a combustion engine spends idling at a truck stop or job site is fuel burned, money lost, and air polluted for no productive reason. Vanair’s patented solar panel system for semi trucks is ready to help slash idle times. Both long-haul and daycab drivers alike deal with brutal heat and cold, whether they’re stuck in port queues, or hoteling between runs. Keeping the truck’s cabs livable and the devices that keep them connected powered up takes power, and that typically means running a generator or idling a diesel. Vanair thinks they have a better solution: solar power. “Vanair has spent more than five decades providing its mobile power solutions for work truck and vocational fleets, and the challenges facing Class 8 fleets are fundamentally the same,” said Chip Jones, national manager of the Electrified Products Group for Vanair. “Drivers need reliable heating, cooling and electrical power without running the main engine. Fleets need to protect expensive assets from the wear that idling causes. What we bring to this market is not a single-purpose APU. It’s a complete, integrated power ecosystem that scales to the application.” All that idle time doesn’t just reduce emissions – it can also have a major impact on operating costs. A typical Class 8 truck can burn close to a gallon of diesel per hour while idling. Multiply that 5-6 hours of idling per day by 200-300 days/year, and you get thousands of dollars of wasted diesel and engine hours every year. Dubbed EPEQ Solar Assist, Vanair’s self-described “ecosystem” fights those costs by pairing a modular battery pack with flexible solar panels mounted to the truck’s cab fairing to work as a replacement for traditional, diesel-powered APUs. The all-electric Vanair system powers the truck’s HVAC, lift gates, and onboard electronics without firing up the main engine. It’s important to note here, again, that these solar panels don’t drive the truck, and aren’t necessarily designed for electric semi trucks (though, they can be). What they do do is help keep the batteries topped off, even in low light, reducing the need to plug in to grid power or charge the batteries with the main engine. The company says its 1/8″ thick flexible panels can to most cab fairings, trailer rooftops, and other curved surfaces (think: roof and hood) without raised mounting platforms, and that they’re durable enough to survive, “more than 130,000 vibration cycles.” Vanair has direct-fit configurations available for most major OEM platforms, pairing those with ELiMENT 12-volt LiFePO4 batteries in 100 Ah and 200 Ah configurations and with pure sine wave inverters in 1,000W, 2,000W and 3,000W sizes – enough to power onboard electronics, charge up cordless power tools, and run some 120V equipment. SOURCE | IMAGES: Vanair, via Power Progress. If you’re considering going solar, it’s always a good idea to get quotes from a few installers. To make sure you find a trusted, reliable solar installer near you that offers competitive pricing, check out EnergySage, a free service that makes it easy for you to go solar. It has hundreds of pre-vetted solar installers competing for your business, ensuring you get high-quality solutions and save 20-30% compared to going it alone. Plus, it’s free to use, and you won’t get sales calls until you select an installer and share your phone number with them. Your personalized solar quotes are easy to compare online and you’ll get access to unbiased Energy Advisors to help you every step of the way. Get started here. FTC: We use income earning auto affiliate links.More. Subscribe to Electrek on YouTube for exclusive videos and subscribe to the podcast. I’ve been in and around the auto industry for over thirty years, and have written for a number of well-known outlets like CleanTechnica, Popular Mechanics, the Truth About Cars, and more. You can catch me at Electrek Daily’s Quick Charge, The Heavy Equipment Podcast, or chasing my kids around Oak Park, IL Find a reliable home solar and battery installer and save 20-30% compared to going it alone. Qmerit makes electrification easy — connecting you with trusted pros who get it done right.
Plans for a West Jacksonville solar farm that will sell power to city utility JEA advanced with a City Council vote March 24. Council voted 17-0, with members Rory Diamond and Randy White away from the dais, to approve closure and abandonment of three rights-of-way to allow for development of the solar array facility on 2 acres. The land, three tracts off 1304 Old Plank Road, will become one of three solar farm projects that will sell power to JEA, according to a utility spokesperson. The site is northwest of Interstate 10 and Florida 23, which is the First Coast Expressway. JEA, which owns the land, will buy the power from Florida Renewable Partners, which will build, own and operate the solar farm. FRP is a subsidiary of NextEra Energy Resources, a Juno-based energy infrastructure and supplier company. FRP operates as the solar energy arm of NextEra. In 2024, JEA announced it finalized an agreement with FRP to develop three solar generation facilities. JEA said the sites would have a combined available output of 200 megawatts that could provide power for more than 37,000 households. JEA says the development is part of its Miller Solar Energy Center project, which is designed to provide 74.9 megawatts of solar power to the utility’s customers. The agreement calls for FRP to sell the energy produced to JEA through purchase power agreements with a 35-year term. The JEA spokesperson said March 17 the solar farms are expected to come online by the end of 2026.
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By Patrick O'Donnell, Published: 25/03/2026 Retailers, including Lidl and Amazon, will now be able to sell plug-in solar panels after changes to Government regulatory rules Lidl and Amazon are preparing to stock plug-in solar panels priced from approximately £400 following a Government announcement that regulatory barriers will be removed within months. The Department for Energy Security and Net Zero confirmed ministers are collaborating with major retailers and manufacturers to bring these affordable energy devices to British consumers.
Energy Secretary Ed Miliband framed the initiative as part of efforts to protect households from unpredictable global markets.
He said: "Whether through solar panels fitted as standard on new homes or making it possible for people to purchase plug-in solar in shops, we are determined to roll out clean power so we can give our country energy sovereignty."
Lidl is now selling solar panels to customers
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GETTY
Lidl's corporate affairs director Georgina Hall described the regulatory update as "a positive step towards empowering British households to manage their energy costs".
Gas prices have climbed more than 60 per cent since late February, prompting what industry observers describe as a dash for renewable alternatives.
Rebecca Dibb-Simkin, the chief product officer at Octopus Energy, said: "We are seeing a fundamental shift in the national psyche when it comes to energy. With the second energy market shock in less than five years, homeowners are looking for security."
Britain is currently witnessing its strongest year on record for solar adoption, according to MCS industry figures.
Solar panels on the roof of private dwelling property | PA
Ed Miliband has made renewable energy rollout a primary target | PA
The plug-in devices work by connecting directly to a standard three-pin wall socket, eliminating the need for professional installation.
Lightweight panels can be mounted on balconies, attached to garden fences or positioned on patios, with a built-in microinverter synchronising the generated power with the home's electrical system.
Appliances automatically draw from the free solar energy before switching to grid electricity. Government estimates suggest typical households could reduce their annual bills by between £70 and £110, meaning the initial outlay would be recovered in roughly four years.
With quality panels lasting around 15 years, owners could benefit from a decade of savings after breaking even.
The technology has already gained significant traction across Europe, with Spain and Germany seeing approximately half a million units installed annually.
Mark Coles, head of technical regulations at the Institution of Engineering and Technology, warned that homeowners should have their electrical systems inspected before connecting such devices, noting that safety could differ considerably depending on the property.
The Government has committed to working with regulators and network operators to revise wiring standards and establish appropriate protections ahead of the retail launch.
Plug-in panel initiative forms part of a broader clean energy strategy that includes the Future Homes Standard, which will require solar panels and heat pumps on most new-build properties from 2028.
Energy Secretary Ed Miliband framed the initiative as part of efforts to protect households from unpredictable global markets. He said: "Whether through solar panels fitted as standard on new homes or making it possible for people to purchase plug-in solar in shops, we are determined to roll out clean power so we can give our country energy sovereignty." Lidl is now selling solar panels to customers GETTY Lidl's corporate affairs director Georgina Hall described the regulatory update as "a positive step towards empowering British households to manage their energy costs". Gas prices have climbed more than 60 per cent since late February, prompting what industry observers describe as a dash for renewable alternatives. Rebecca Dibb-Simkin, the chief product officer at Octopus Energy, said: "We are seeing a fundamental shift in the national psyche when it comes to energy. With the second energy market shock in less than five years, homeowners are looking for security." Britain is currently witnessing its strongest year on record for solar adoption, according to MCS industry figures. The plug-in devices work by connecting directly to a standard three-pin wall socket, eliminating the need for professional installation. Lightweight panels can be mounted on balconies, attached to garden fences or positioned on patios, with a built-in microinverter synchronising the generated power with the home's electrical system. Appliances automatically draw from the free solar energy before switching to grid electricity. Government estimates suggest typical households could reduce their annual bills by between £70 and £110, meaning the initial outlay would be recovered in roughly four years. With quality panels lasting around 15 years, owners could benefit from a decade of savings after breaking even. The technology has already gained significant traction across Europe, with Spain and Germany seeing approximately half a million units installed annually. Mark Coles, head of technical regulations at the Institution of Engineering and Technology, warned that homeowners should have their electrical systems inspected before connecting such devices, noting that safety could differ considerably depending on the property. The Government has committed to working with regulators and network operators to revise wiring standards and establish appropriate protections ahead of the retail launch. Plug-in panel initiative forms part of a broader clean energy strategy that includes the Future Homes Standard, which will require solar panels and heat pumps on most new-build properties from 2028.
Utility-scale solar PV and wind accounted for 17% of the US’ total electricity generation in 2025, a record figure and an increase over the 16% reported in 2024. This is according to the US Energy Information Administration (EIA) in its latest ‘Electric Power Monthly’ report, which covers generation figures from power plants with at least 1MW of capacity. While wind continues to lead US renewables in raw generation totals—accounting for 464,000GWh in 2025—wind saw just a 3% year-on-year increase in generation; this compares to a 34% year-on-year increase in solar generation, which hit a total of 296,000GWh in 2025. Get Premium Subscription The EIA noted that this growth has also been observed across sectors; utility-scale solar has seen generation increase each year since 2006, while small-scale solar saw an 11% increase in generation between 2024 and 2025 to 93,000GWh. Combined, distributed solar, utility-scale PV and wind power together accounted for 19% of US electricity generation in 2025. The graph above shows solar generation compared to selected sources of electricity generation in the US, and how, across all sectors profiled by the EIA, solar generation exceeded 388,000GWh in 2025. The ‘other renewables’ category includes wind, which accounts for the majority of this generation, and was still the most productive form of electricity generation in 2025. The growth of both forms of renewable electricity generation compare favourably to coal, which has seen generation decline in the past decade, and nuclear, which has remained relatively stable since 2016; although US natural gas generation continues to fluctuate upwards. Other EIA figures show that operational US solar capacity reached 152.5GW as of the end of January, and the administration expects this figure to increase to 194.1GW next year, based on new projects that have been announced. This figure includes net summer capacity, and is larger than the 173.5GW of wind capacity set to be in operation by the same period. States with strong solar industries have also shown themselves to be more resistant to some of the energy price rises that the US has experienced over the last year; the EIA reports that, between January 2025 and January 2026, the average US electricity price, across all sectors, increased by more than a cent, from US$0.1309/kWh to US$0.1417/kWh. California, meanwhile, which boasts the largest operational solar capacity among the 50 states, was one of four states to see its average energy price decline over this period, from US$0.2567/kWh to US$0.2555/kWh. The state’s residential energy prices also held steady, only moving up marginally from US$0.3028/kWh to US$0.3029/kWh, over a period where the average residential energy price in the US increased by around 1.5 cents. Last week, the state voted in favour of a new bill to accelerate the adoption of balcony solar projects, which would further benefit its residential solar sector. After five editions of Large Scale Solar USA, the event becomes SolarPLUS USA to mirror where the market is heading. The 2026 edition, held this week in Dallas, Texas, will bring together developers, investors and utilities to discuss managing hybrid assets, multi-state pipelines, power demand increase from data centres and AI as well as the co-location of solar PV with energy storage in a complex grid. For more details and how to attend the event, visit the website here.
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Detailed statistics Solar power capacity in China 2012-2024 Detailed statistics Annual electricity generation from solar power in China 2013-2024 Detailed statistics Global energy transition investments 2025, by leading country Renewable Energy Global cumulative solar PV capacity 2024, by select country Renewable Energy Global solar PV capacity installations 2024 Renewable Energy Regional share of solar PV capacity additions worldwide 2024 Global cumulative installed solar PV capacity 2000-2024 Cumulative solar PV capacity installed worldwide from 2000 to 2024 (in megawatts) Global cumulative solar PV capacity 2024, by select country Cumulative solar photovoltaic capacity globally as of 2024, by select country (in gigawatts) Global solar PV capacity installations 2024 Leading countries based on new solar photovoltaic capacity additions worldwide in 2024 (in gigawatts) Renewable power production share in China 2000-2024, by source Electricity generation share from renewable energy in China from 2000 to 2024, by source Solar power capacity in China 2012-2024 Cumulative installed solar power capacity in China from 2012 to 2024 (in gigawatts) Newly installed solar power capacity China 2015-2024 Newly installed solar power capacity in China from 2015 to 2024 (in gigawatts) Solar power capacity installed in China by province 2025 Capacity of operational solar power farms in China as of February 2025, by province/municipality (in megawatts) Largest operating solar PV farms in China 2023, by capacity Capacity of the largest solar photovoltaic plants in China as of April 2023 (in megawatts) Largest operational solar power plants in China 2024, by capacity Largest operational solar power plants with a capacity over 20 MW in China as of June 2024 (in megawatts) Annual electricity generation from solar power in China 2013-2024 Annual power generation from solar power in China from 2013 to 2024 (in terawatt hours) Share of solar PV in electricity production in China 2010-2024 Share of electricity generated from solar photovoltaics in China from 2010 to 2024 Monthly solar PV power generated in China 2021-2025 Solar photovoltaic energy generated in China from January 2021 to July 2025 (in terawatt hours) Market size of photovoltaics equipment in China 2019-2023 Size of the photovoltaics equipment market in China from 2019 to 2023 (in billion yuan) Market size of solar cell equipment in China 2022-2025 Size of the solar cell equipment market in China from 2022 to 2023 with an estimate for 2025 (in billion yuan) Solar PV module production output in China 2018-2024 Production of solar photovoltaic modules in China from 2018 to 2024 (in gigawatts) Output volume of glass for PV modules in China 2019-2024 Production volume of glass for photovoltaic modules in China from 2019 to 2023 with an estimate for 2024 (in million square meters) Production volume of solar cells in China 2015-2024 Production volume of solar cells in China from 2015 to 2024 (in gigawatts) Major solar PV cell manufacturers in China 2023, by production capacity Production capacity of the leading solar PV cell manufacturers in China in 2023 (in megawatts) Major solar PV cell manufacturers in China 2022, by production output Production output of the leading solar PV cell manufacturers in China in 2022 (in megawatts per year) Major solar PV module manufacturers in China 2023, by production capacity Production capacity of the leading solar PV module manufacturers in China in 2023 (in megawatts) Major solar PV module manufacturers in China 2023, by production output Production output of the leading solar PV module manufacturers in China in 2023 (in megawatts) Major solar PV thin-film module manufacturers in China 2023, by production capacity Production capacity of the leading solar PV thin-film module manufacturers in China in 2023 (in megawatts) Solar energy capacity targets in China 2021-2027 Cumulative solar power capacity targets in China from 2021 to 2027 (in gigawatts) Prospective solar power capacity additions in China by province 2025 Capacity of solar power farms proposed and under construction in China as of February 2025, by province/municipality (in megawatts) Global new solar PV capacity forecast 2025-2029, by select country Projected new installations of solar PV capacity worldwide between 2025 and 2029, by select country (in gigawatts) Detailed statistics Solar power capacity in China 2012-2024 Detailed statistics Annual electricity generation from solar power in China 2013-2024 Detailed statistics Global energy transition investments 2025, by leading country The most important key figures provide you with a compact summary of the topic of "Solar energy in China" and take you straight to the corresponding statistics. 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Solar panels are installed above a rural fish pond in Huzhou, East China’s Zhejiang Province, on September 22, 2025. Photo: VCG As the fanfare about China’s 15th National Games envelops the country, licensed retail stores for the Games and … Solar and wind energy outpaced the growth in global electricity demand in the first half of 2025, as … The137th China Import and Export Fair (Canton Fair) kicked off on Tuesday in Guangzhou, South China’s Guangdong Province, …
A proposed solar farm covering roughly 8,600 acres of forest land near Keno is raising concerns from residents as the project moves through the state approval process. (Credit: Elvina Contla) Don DePuy (right) and his wife, April (left), monitor their horses in Keno, Oregon on March 20, 2026. They are worried the Klamath Falls Energy Center would be built directly along the couple’s fence line. (Credit: Danny Stipanovich) Power lines run through the forests just pass the town of Keno, Oregon. Residents say that is why a proposed solar farm is has chosen the town’s backyard. (Credit: Danny Stipanovich)
Power lines run through the forests just pass the town of Keno, Oregon. Residents say that is why a proposed solar farm is has chosen the town’s backyard. (Credit: Danny Stipanovich) KENO, Ore. – A proposed solar farm covering roughly 8,600 acres of forest land near Keno is raising concerns from residents as the project moves through the state approval process. The Klamath Falls Energy Center would be built on private property bordered by forests in the rural community of under 2,000 people. A proposed solar farm covering roughly 8,600 acres of forest land near Keno is raising concerns from residents as the project moves through the state approval process. (Credit: Elvina Contla) Residents say the project would bring major changes to the landscape and could threaten their way of life. “This land is literally the life stream of this entire area down to the Klamath River,” said Elvina Contla, a Keno resident. Contla said the forest is deeply connected to water, snowpack and migration routes. “All of our water that all of our wells attached to comes from the snowpack,” Contla said. “Every herd animal that comes through here relies on those to drink water during their migration period.” Don DePuy (right) and his wife, April (left), monitor their horses in Keno, Oregon on March 20, 2026. They are worried the Klamath Falls Energy Center would be built directly along the couple’s fence line. (Credit: Danny Stipanovich) Don DePuy, Contla’s neighbor, said the project would be built directly along his fence line. After a long career in IT, DePuy chose Keno because of the land and lifestyle. “They’re gonna have to take down a lot of timber, and this ground doesn’t do good without the trees on it,” DePuy said. “I’m just afraid it’ll just turn this all into a big mudslide every winter.” DePuy said the project would require fencing, tree removal and major landscape changes. He said the impact could extend beyond safety to wildlife that migrates through the area. “Makes you wonder what’s gonna happen with your property values, your insurance, all that,” DePuy said. “How’s it gonna affect us? We don’t really know, and I don’t think anybody knows till if it does go through and then it may be too late to sell.” DePuy said the reason developers chose the location is because power lines run through the forest of Keno. He said clear cutting the forest raises fire risk. If a fire catches, it would spread quickly without the timber. Kellen Tardaewether, a senior siting analyst with the Oregon Department of Energy, said the project is still in its earliest phase of review. “It is not a done deal,” Tardaewether said. “Nothing has been approved. Right now is when the department and the council and the developer are seeking feedback on potential impacts in the location for this project.” Residents say the stakes already feel high. “If I run outta water, I can’t live there. If I can’t pay for insurance for my home, I can’t live there. If a fire does break out and burns everything down, I can’t live there. So they could literally be taking my home away,” Contla said. This story was reformatted from a broadcast news script. Danny Stipanovich is a multimedia journalist at NewsWatch 12. You can reach Danny by emailing dstipanovich@kdrv.com.
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The term “solar farm” was coined in the early 1970s because the rows of solar panels resembled rows of crops. However, a solar farm only “harvests” the sun to convert it to electricity. What if a solar farm could also be… a farm? I posed this question in my introductory remarks at the March 10 screening of the documentary “Save the Farm, Save the Future” at Chesapeake College. The film provided a glimpse into real-life “agrivoltaics,” where agricultural crops or livestock coexist on the same land as the solar panels. The economics of agrivoltaics are favorable to both the developer, who leases the land for multiple decades, and farmers, who will get access to the land through an agreement with the developer. The farmer using the land may not be the land owner, which opens up additional opportunities. In fact, the most common use currently in the United States is sheep grazing, where the developer pays a farmer to bring their herd to the solar installation for “vegetation management.”
In the panel following the documentary, we explored whether Eastern Shore farmers would be interested in partnering with responsible solar developers for agrivoltaics. On the one hand, Eastern Shore residents deeply resent their farmland preservation goals being preempted by Maryland’s clean energy goals. On the other hand, as mentioned by the panelists, recent policy changes have incentivized agrivoltaics, especially for community solar – a type of project which has the added benefit of lowering electricity costs for local subscribers. However, the concept is still relatively new. Most of the Maryland sites are “pollinators,” which no longer fall under the legal definition. I was disappointed to hear some audience members be dismissive of hay, specialty crops, and sheep grazing as dual-use solutions for agrivoltaics. In fact, some people were opposed to allowing a solar installation to qualify for the agricultural use tax assessment (lower than “market value”). This was surprising given the strong concerns about solar taking over farmland. The assessment would provide an incentive to simultaneously use the land for both solar and agriculture. Thus, solar installations with agrivoltaics would support local agricultural jobs and help farmers be more profitable. The Eastern Shore is uniquely positioned to embrace this agricultural opportunity. In the best case scenario, agrivoltaics could expand from a “niche” to a widespread practice, and the land could be available for both current and future generations of farmers. Cora Dickson Principal, Solar Policy Associates Rock Hall
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The projects, named Schöntal and Widdern, fall under the EEG tariff scheme. They were initially developed by Solizer, a subsidiary of Vattenfall, and offered to RP Global at an advanced stage of development. Financial closing has only been reached for one of them so far: the 7.1 MWp solar park Schöntal. It will be the first project that RP Global builds with MaxSolar as EPC partner under their recently signed collaboration agreement in Germany. “The acquisition of the Widdern and Schöntal projects marks an important milestone for our continued growth, broadening RP Global’s geographical reach and expanding our area of activity to south-west Germany” said Ray Zawalski, Country Manager RP Global Germany. “Considering the slow pace of grid expansion, our goal is to generate energy closer to consumers. We see great potential here, particularly in southern and western Germany. Work on implementation will begin in the coming months, and we hope to be able to commission both sites before the end of this year.” Schöntal is located along the motorway and therefore enjoys privileged building rights. As procedural freedom was only incorporated into the state building regulations in Baden-Württemberg in June 2025, it is one of the first projects in the state to be built with privileged status and without procedural requirements. However, the project’s environmental and social impact was still carefully examined in consultation with the authorities. The Schöntal project borders the UNESCO World Heritage Site Limes, the Roman Empire’s border fortifications. This makes it RP Global’s second historical project site following the recent construction of a PV park on Germany’s oldest lignite mining site, Harbke. Construction of the Schöntal project is due to start in Q2 of this year. For additional information: RP Global
Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript. Advertisement Nature Energy (2026)Cite this article Molecular interactions are crucial to improving the efficiency and stability of perovskite solar cells, yet current solution-based approaches relying on molecular incorporation or surface passivation show inherent limitations in separately controlling these interactions. Here we reveal an intrinsic interfacial interaction that arises from simple contact between individually crystallized two-dimensional and three-dimensional perovskites without mixing or permanent bonding. We define this contact-triggered cationic interaction (CCI), which reversibly constrains molecular degrees of freedom, suppresses phase transitions, enhances carrier lifetimes and induces a unique recrystallization of the three-dimensional framework. This CCI-driven recrystallization produces refined FAPbI3 with improved cation homogeneity, reduced lattice disorder and superior optoelectronic properties. Devices using CCI-driven FAPbI3 achieve 26.25% efficiency (25.61% certified) and retain a projected operational lifetime exceeding 20,000 h. Our findings provide the first quantitative evidence that intrinsic interfacial cationic interactions can directly influence perovskite material quality and device performance. Molecular interactions in the ABX3 crystal structure of three-dimensional (3D) perovskites, including those involving additives or passivating molecules, critically govern perovskite solar cells (PSCs) performance, alongside composition1,2, microstructure3,4 and crystallinity5,6. These interactions determine the stability7, optoelectronic properties8 and charge transport9. From a crystallographic perspective, bulky organic spacer cations, which are chemically stable linked by van der Waals interactions, have further enabled dimensional control from 3D to two-dimensional (2D) perovskite crystal structures through intermolecular interaction10,11. In PSC research, molecular interactions are primarily investigated through solution-based processes. Additives such as dimethyl sulfoxide and n-methyl-2-pyrrolidinone enhance film quality12,13, by interacting with precursors and forming intermediate adducts yielding high-quality films5,14,15 and improved stability16. Bulky organic spacers are also incorporated either directly into precursor solutions17,18 or applied separately at interfaces19,20,21 to form 2D perovskite, regulate crystallization, enhance stability and improve device performance. Despite the ease of processing and the impressive device performance achieved through these solution-based molecular interactions, it is crucial to recognize their inherent limitations. Indeed, such solution-based approaches intrinsically limit independent control over molecular interactions, these processes inherently involve permanent bonding, cation exchange and interdiffusion22,23. In addition, they are highly sensitive to humidity24 and temperature25, often causing pinholes26 and residual solvents27 and nanoscale impurities28. Device environments involve multiple simultaneous interactions, including mixed compositions and dimensional heterojunctions, which further complicate the isolation of individual effects. This complexity obscures the identification of distinct interaction mechanisms and hinders a mechanistic understanding of performance loss and long-term instability in PSCs. By contrast, solvent-free solid-state reaction techniques offer an efficient platform for selectively investigating molecular interactions29,30. Owing to the soft crystalline nature of perovskites, these materials are highly responsive to external stimuli31, enabling additional growth and bulk reformation through solid-state reactions. Although such processes were initially explored at the microscale32,33, recent extension to the nanoscale has broadened the scope of solid-state interaction studies34,35. Specifically, solid-state interactions between 2D and 3D perovskites provide a driving force for the growth of 2D layers on 3D perovskite surfaces, yielding crystallinity superior to that achieved by solution processing30. These 2D layers further impart multifunctional properties, including defect passivation, localized electric fields generation29 and ferroelectric properties36 thereby drawing increasing attention to solid-state heterodimensional interactions37,38,39. With respect to the control of molecular interactions, the solid-state reaction between 2D and 3D perovskites, particularly when employing 2D perovskite solid films, holds promising potential as a unique platform for precise and tuneable molecular interactions. Unlike the limited selection of A-site molecules in 3D perovskites, the broader range of organic spacers available in 2D perovskites enables more diverse and controllable molecular interactions40,41. Here, we introduce contact-triggered cationic interaction (CCI), a previously unrecognized phenomenon in which simple physical contact between individually crystallized 2D and 3D perovskite framework-embedded molecules induces pronounced and reversible changes in material properties, without permanent bonding, chemical reaction or junction formation. At these well-defined interfaces, bulky spacer chains in the 2D perovskite deform and engage in dipole-induced dipole interactions with formamidinium (FA) cations in the 3D perovskite. Increasing alkyl-chain length strengthens these interactions by increasing available contact sites, progressively constraining molecular degrees of freedom. Remarkably, CCI alone suppresses phase transitions, extends carrier lifetimes and triggers unique recrystallization of the 3D perovskite lattice into a stable tetragonal phase through subsequent heating, all without any incorporating 2D components or forming permanent bilayer. The CCI-driven FAPbI3 exhibits markedly improved cation homogeneity, crystal orientation and optoelectronic properties. Solar cells based on this material achieve a power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 26.25% (certified at 25.61%), retains 95.2% of initial efficiency after 2,000 h of operation and exhibit a projected lifetime ~24,800 h. This study provides the quantitative and experimental evidence that intrinsic interfacial cationic interactions decisively govern material properties, device performance and long-term stability, offering a rational framework for molecular-level interface design in halide perovskite. Designing or leveraging perovskite interfaces demands a deep understanding of interfacial interactions, including quantifying their strengths and assessing the resulting micro- and macroscopic changes. To isolate interface-driven phenomena, the interfacial structure must be well defined, and permanent chemical reactions or direct bonding should be avoided. Accordingly, we fabricate framework-structured perovskite thin films independently and analysed the interactions arising solely from simple surface contact (Fig. 1a). This contact-based configuration prevents chemical reactions or permanent junction formation at the interface and enables reversible recovery upon contact removal. We term this non-permanent interaction CCI, which can be reversibly activated and deactivated through the contact and separation. a, A schematic of CCI between framework-embedded molecules of 3D and 2D perovskites. Deactivation (contact removal) reversibly restores the system to its initial 3D perovskite state. b, In situ PL map and integrated PL intensity (IPL) of 3D FAPbI3 during repeated CCI activation–deactivation cycles with 2D framework-embedded bulky spacers on the same 3D film. The inset schematics illustrate the in situ experimental sequence using different spacer molecules (C4N1, C8N1 and C12N1). These cycles were repeated at fixed intervals, showing immediate PL enhancement upon activation and instant PL quenching upon inactivation over multiple cycles. Source data In framework-structured perovskites, cations occupy the sites between Pb–I octahedra. At the surface, bulky cation amine groups orient inward in 2D perovskites, more prominently than in 3D perovskites with freely rotating cage cations. This structural regularity enables well-defined surface interactions even under simple contact conditions. We selected alkyl amine-based 2D perovskites and FA-based 3D perovskites as interface components and systematically varied only in alkyl-chain length: C4N1 (butylammonium lead iodide, (BA)2PbI4), C8N1 (octylammonium lead iodide, (OA)2PbI4) and C12N1 (dodecylammonium lead iodide, (DDA)2PbI4). To verify interfacial effects on photoexcited charge behaviour, we performed in situ steady-state photoluminescence (PL) measurements. Figure 1b shows the in situ PL map and integrated PL intensity obtained by sequentially placing and removing 2D perovskites on the same 3D film. The PL signal near 800 nm increases sequentially from C4N1 to C8N1 to C12N1 and fully reverts to its initial state upon removal of the 2D perovskite layer. This signal ‘node,’ observed using the same 3D perovskite film, indicates that simple contact under ambient conditions does not induce chemical reactions or permanent junctions. In situ photoconductivity measurements further corroborate this attribution to the CCI (Supplementary Fig. 1), confirming that the observed changes arise from CCI and depend on cation type (Supplementary Note 1). The constructed 2D/3D interface includes Pb–I octahedra, FA cations and framework-embedded bulky cations, with possible interactions such as dipole–dipole, dipole-induced dipole, hydrogen bonding and van der Waals forces. To identify interacting components, interaction strength and resulting changes, we employed density functional theory (DFT) simulations. Figure 2a illustrates the interface configuration under simple contact for each alkyl-chain length. Upon contact, bulky cations bend at the interface with deformation increasing with chain length (Supplementary Fig. 2). Differential charge density analysis reveals polarization within the 2D perovskite chains and indicates that the interactions are dominated not by amine hydrogen bonding but by long alkyl chains interacting with 3D octahedra and cage cations. Major contributions arise from specific components, including terminal regions of the 3D perovskite, segments of the octahedra, the FA cation and terminal regions of the 2D chains. Longer alkyl chains increase both the number of interaction sites and the overall interaction strength. The interaction strength was quantified via adsorption energy (Eads), which increased in magnitude with alkyl-chain length from −198 meV to −592 meV (Fig. 2b). This metric enables comparisons of interaction strengths across contact scenarios. Standardizing the interaction strength provides a basis for designing interfaces based on interaction mechanisms that are applicable to various perovskite systems with modified cations (for example, FA replaced by MA, Cs or alkyl/aryl cations), central metals (Pb replaced by Sn) or halides (Cl, Br and I combinations). Despite involving nonpolar alkyl chains, these adsorption energies are relatively strong due to dipole-induced dipole interactions with FA cations. As shown in Fig. 2c, strong interaction increases the FA rotational activation barrier along both the C–H and N–N axes, notably from 0.79 eV to 1.12 eV along the C–N axis (Supplementary Fig. 3). Aligned dipoles under CCI generate localized fields that can influence carrier dynamics during exciton separation42,43. Further technical details regarding the simulation and energetic analysis are provided in Supplementary Note 2. a, DFT-calculated differential charge density maps for CCI at the interface between FAPbI3 and various 2D perovskites. b, Adsorption energy (Eads) between FAPbI3 and 2D perovskites under CCI activation. c, Correlation between Eads and the rotational energy barrier (Ea) of FA⁺ along the C–H and N–N axes under CCI. The inset shows the FA⁺ molecular structure and the corresponding rotational axes. d, Time-resolved PL decay of FAPbI3 under CCI with different 2D spacers, measured without heat or pressure. Each curve was obtained on the same 3D film under different CCI conditions. e, α-to-δ phase transition of FAPbI3 under various CCI conditions. α-phase FAPbI3 films, fabricated at 150 °C, are contacted with different 2D spacers and then exposed to 80% relative humidity at 25 °C for 12 h. f, γ-to-δ phase transition of CsPbI3 under various CCI conditions. γ-phase CsPbI3 films, fabricated at 210 °C, are contacted with different 2D spacers and then exposed to 80% relative humidity at 25 °C for 10 min. g, δ-to-α phase transition of δ-phase FAPbI3 under various CCI. δ-phase FAPbI3 films undergo CCI with 2D spacers and are then annealed at 150 °C for 10 min. In e–g, the 3D films were exposed to each condition while stacked with the 2D film, and imaging was performed after separation, without additional pressure. RT, room temperature. Figure 2d presents the PL decay results as a function of the 2D material used to activate the CCI. The carrier lifetime increases further under CCI conditions with materials exhibiting stronger interaction strength. Improvements are observed both at the surface and in the bulk but primarily at the surface (Supplementary Fig. 4 and Supplementary Table 1). Notably, the extent of surface improvement aligns closely with the trend in interaction strength. Experiments involving contact with non-framework cation salt layers demonstrate that without surface regularity, the effects of interactions are less pronounced (Extended Data Fig. 1). Compared with the trends or values observed in conventional passivation or permanent junction formation, the lifetime enhancement trend is similar, but the effect of interactions alone differs in magnitude. This difference arises from the distinction between the current interaction and permanent passivation, suggesting that junction formation involves additional changes beyond the interfacial interactions observed here. Our approach consistently isolates and monitors effects arising solely from these interactions. CCI also modulates phase-transition dynamics. As shown in Fig. 2e, strong CCI (C8N1 and C12N1) suppresses the α-to-δ phase transition in FAPbI3 under accelerated ageing conditions, whereas weaker CCI (C4N1) does not. Since phase transitions typically initiate at the surface, CCI acts as an effective surface constraint. Cage-cation substitution clarifies the mechanism: replacing FA with dipolar methylammonium preserves CCI-induced phase suppression, whereas substitution with non-dipolar Cs prevents CCI activation altogether (Supplementary Fig. 5). In the absence of dipole-induced dipole interactions, CCI fails to impose a surface constraint, and the films readily transition to the δ-phase (Fig. 2f). Notably, Fig. 2g shows that strong CCI (C8N1 and C12N1) suppresses the reverse δ-to-α phase transition in FAPbI3 at 150 °C. Suppression increases with CCI strength and occurs more gradually than α-to-δ transitions. CCI-driven phase-transition suppression is consistently observed across different perovskite frameworks, and bidirectional temperature cycling between room temperature and 150 °C confirms that CCI remains effective throughout the relevant temperature range (Supplementary Figs. 6 and 7 and Supplementary Note 3). The fact that bulk properties remain controlled across a wide temperature range under CCI conditions raises interest in the recrystallization outcomes of FAPbI3 under CCI. We investigated the changes induced by additional heating after establishing a CCI environment with α-phase FAPbI3. When a transparent glass substrate is placed in contact and heated, no CCI occurs, resulting in thermal degradation. Despite the establishment of a CCI with material present at the interface, excessively high temperatures induce mutual material intrusion between the interfaces, even in a simple contact state. This leads to the formation of quasi-2D phases on the 3D perovskite side, hindering the observation of changes driven solely by the interaction. Through experiments involving varying temperatures and 2D types with different CCI strengths, we identified a temperature range where the CCI is maintained without thermal intrusion into the 3D substrate (Extended Data Figs. 2–4 and Supplementary Note 4). Specifically, at the CCI interface between the 3D perovskite and C8N1 heated at 90 °C for 1 h, no material intrusion into the 3D perovskite was observed. Figure 3a and Extended Data Fig. 5 present in situ PL measurements observed during 90 °C heating under various CCI conditions (Supplementary Note 5). Before annealing, PL signals from the 2D and 3D were observed. Signals corresponding to the quasi-2D phase appear during heating, with their type and quantity depending on the 2D type. When CCI is formed with C4N1, peaks corresponding to n = 2 to n = 4 appear, but with 2D types possessing longer chains, only the n = 2 phase is observed, with no other phases detected. To investigate the state and distribution of these quasi-2D phases, the substrates were detached after 1 h of cooling and ultraviolet (UV)‒visible light spectroscopy was performed on each sample. Under CCI with C4N1, the transition to higher n values, such as n = 4, occurs only in the 2D layer, whereas in the 3D substrate, only up to n = 2 is observed (Supplementary Fig. 8). This finding indicates that material intrusion is not fully controlled during heating under CCI with C4N1. By contrast, for CCIs with 2D types possessing chains longer than C8N1, only up to n = 2 is observed in the 2D perovskite substrate after separation, with no 2D signals detected in the 3D substrate (Fig. 3b). These results were additionally corroborated by emission spectra and grazing-incidence X-ray diffraction (XRD) of the detached films (Supplementary Figs. 9 and 10). This finding suggests a unilateral outflow of FA cations in the 3D perovskite, indicating that cation rearrangement may occur under contact with materials, creating stronger CCI conditions. On this basis, the C8N1 interface, which reflects the effect of one-hour heating at 90 °C under CCI, was selected as the representative CCI system for subsequent analyses and is referred to as the CCI-driven group. a, In situ PL mapping during C8N1-based CCI treatment, where both films are brought into direct contact and annealed at 90 °C. The insets schematically illustrate the stacking configuration of the contacting films during thermal annealing and subsequent cooling to room temperature. b, Absorbance and derivative absorbance spectra of C8N1 and FAPbI3 films before and after CCI treatment with C8N1, revealing the emergence of an n = 2 quasi‑2D feature only after CCI with C8N1. The 2D signature is confined to the C8N1 film and is absent in the 3D FAPbI3 film. c, FA⁺ distribution in each film measured by PiFM using the characteristic vibrational signal at 1,711 cm−1. The PiFM signal is detected at depths of approximately 100–300 nm. Inserted infrared mapping images show the FA⁺ distribution over a 5 μm × 5 μm area; scale bar, 1 μm. d, PiF spectra as a function of wavenumber for control and CCI-driven FAPbI3 films. e, PiFM mapping images of control and CCI-driven 3D films with a composition of [FAPbI3]0.95[MAPbBr3]0.05. Scale bar, 1 μm. f, Surface morphology of control and CCI-driven FAPbI3 films. Scale bar, 1 μm. g, Grazing-incidence wide-angle X-ray scattering pattern of CCI-driven FAPbI3 films obtained at an incidence angle of 0.117°. This pattern shows only 3D perovskite features, with no evidence of 2D phases at the surface. To examine changes in the distribution state of FA cations within the film, photo-induced force microscopy (PiFM) was conducted. The inset image in Fig. 3c shows PiF distribution images for control and CCI-driven FAPbI3, based on the wavenumber corresponding to the C=N position in FA. CCI-driven FAPbI3 exhibited a more uniform PiF signal distribution, indicating a more homogeneous FA state across the entire area. Figure 3c illustrates the pixel distribution of the PiF values from the inset image. The control shows a broad distribution from 0 to 2.5 mV across both the surface and bulk, encompassing two main regions (Supplementary Fig. 11). By contrast, CCI-driven FAPbI3 exhibits a unified distribution with a single peak in the middle, which is consistent across both the surface and the bulk, indicating a simplified and uniform FA state in both the surface direction and the depth direction. Time-of-flight secondary ion mass spectrometry tracing the vertical (out-of-plane) FA distribution further confirms this uniformity (Supplementary Fig. 12). Figure 3d shows the PiF values as a function of the wavenumber for both surface and bulk regions. We tracked the C=N bond stretch near 1,710 cm−1, where the peak shift indicates the strength of cation coupling with the surrounding lattice. A shift to higher wavenumbers suggests stronger bond reinforcement, potentially indicating weaker coupling with the surrounding lattice. In the control, a difference in peak position exists between the surface and bulk, with a shift to lower wavenumbers towards the surface. However, in the CCI-driven FAPbI3, the peak positions of the surface and bulk are identical and are located at higher wavenumbers than those of the control, indicating looser coupling between FA and the surrounding lattice44. These results suggest that CCI-based heating resolves excessive and deficient FA regions, achieving a uniform distribution across the bulk while forming an appropriate coupling state. This interaction-driven recrystallization occurs without introducing additional material and represents a previously unreported remediation pathway. Figure 3e shows the PiFM results for the composition mixed with FAPbI3 and MAPbBr3 at a 95:5 ratio. The PiFM image shows that the uneven distribution of FA in this composition becomes even more extreme, with FA existing in a more clustered state in very bright areas. This finding indicates that the additive material improvement method can worsen the uniformity of the local composition or lattice structure, and these uneven points can complicate material analysis and act as a trigger for performance degradation. By contrast, the CCI-driven group uniformizes the FA distribution in this composition as well. This finding demonstrates that the CCI-based recrystallization process can be effectively applied to perovskite framework combinations with different halides or cations. In all surface and bulk areas, wavenumber shifts, homogenization and resolution of the uneven distribution are observed (Supplementary Figs. 13 and 14). Conventional solution-based passivation does not lead to a comparable level of homogenization (Supplementary Fig. 15), underscoring the distinct nature of CCI-driven remediation. CCI-driven recrystallization also alters grain morphology. The surface scanning electron microscope images before and after CCI treatment are shown in Fig. 3f. After CCI treatment, the surface of the FAPbI3 grain, which usually has a curved form, exhibits a highlighted stepped form. To perform crystallographic analysis on this form, grazing-incidence wide angle X-ray scattering analysis was conducted. First, in the CCI-driven FAPbI3, no crystallographic signal corresponding to the 2D perovskite is observed (Fig. 3g). In the azimuthal intensity profiles along (110)t, compared with the control, CCI-driven FAPbI3 has better crystallographic orientation uniformity (Extended Data Fig. 6). This improvement extends beyond the surface area to the bulk (Supplementary Note 6 and Supplementary Figs. 16 and 17). These results demonstrate that CCI enables a non-additive recrystallization process, which simultaneously corrects local chemical imbalances and promotes orientation unification. These findings highlight that the strength of interfacial interactions is a critical parameter controlling the structural state of the perovskite framework. Resolving local compositional imbalances and simplifying crystal orientation enable the fabrication of FAPbI3 with a crystal structure consistent with theoretical expectations. This sparks interest in the crystallographic, electrical and chemical properties of FAPbI3 with sufficiently resolved FA non-uniformity and reoriented crystal alignment achieved through CCI-based heat treatment. Control FAPbI3 refers to pure FAPbI3 without additional CCI-based processing. To investigate changes in the crystallographic properties of the 3D perovskites, XRD analysis was performed (Fig. 4a). Based on prior studies, we assumed a tetragonal lattice structure for the 3D perovskite, and the data were calibrated to match the FTO substrate peaks. The observed XRD peaks for the CCI-driven FAPbI3, including (110)t, (111)t, (201)t, (220)t and (310)t, shifted to lower angles compared with those of control FAPbI3, accompanied by a reduction in microstrain (Supplementary Figs. 18 and 19). This peak shift, accompanied by morphological changes (Supplementary Fig. 20), occurred progressively depending on the CCI processing temperature and time (Supplementary Figs. 21–24). Progressive peak shift and strain relaxation under CCI conditions indicate that interfacial interactions drive structural refinement of the perovskite framework. This surface-initiated process gradually propagates into the bulk, resulting in permanent lattice-level adjustments. The peak shift indicates lattice expansion, particularly with larger changes in diffraction planes involving the c-axis lattice constant. We calculated the theoretically expected lattice constants a and c for FAxMA1-xPbI3 (0.7 ≤ x ≤ 1) compositions, marked with dashed lines (Fig. 4b,c). The control samples without CCI-based remediation closely matched the theoretical lattice parameters a and c when methylammonium was added but exhibited a distinct decrease in the lattice constant with only FA. This is attributed to lattice distortion from microstrain, defects or phase transitions to δ-FAPbI3. Based on prior PiFM measurements, we know that even MA-added compositions matching theoretical values exhibit non-uniform FA distribution; thus, this matching state is interpreted as an average of expanded or contracted regions aligning with theoretical values due to local compositional differences. By contrast, CCI-driven FAPbI3 resolves the sharp decrease in pure FAPbI3, resulting in consistent lattice constants across all tested composition ranges, reflecting the reproduction of the ideal FAPbI3 with a uniform chemical composition and lattice state. a, XRD patterns of control and CCI-driven perovskite films, with the (110), (201) and (220) planes indexed to the tetragonal phase. b,c, Lattice parameters a (b) and c (c) as a function of the FA ratio in the FAxMA1-xPbI3 system (0.7 ≤ x ≤ 1). The black circles indicate perovskite films with various FA/MA ratios prepared by the conventional method, whereas the blue stars represent the CCI-driven 3D perovskite. The dashed curves are guides to the eye. d, PLQE as a function of time for control and CCI-driven FAPbI3. e, Hole and electron mobilities plotted against absorbed photon density. μh and μe denote the mobilities of holes and electrons, respectively. f, Hole and electron diffusion lengths mapped against absorbed photon density. Lh and Le denote the diffusion lengths of holes and electrons, respectively. In panels e and f, the black and blue symbols indicate the values for control and CCI-driven FAPbI3, respectively. The vertical dashed line represents the absorbed photon density corresponding to the 1-sun condition. The dashed curves are guides to the eye. g, Accelerated phase-stability test under 60% relative humidity (RH) at 25 °C. The insets show photographs of the perovskite films before and after exposure. The phase-stability test was carried out using perovskite films prepared on 2.5 cm × 2.5 cm substrates. h, Powder XRD patterns of powders scraped from each film after 100 h. The schematic inset illustrates the scraping procedure from the thin films, and the photographic insets show the resulting powders after 100 hours of exposure. PXRD, powder X-ray diffraction. CCI-driven FAPbI3 demonstrates notable improvements in optoelectronic properties. The PL quantum efficiency (PLQE) was measured under 1-sun equivalent open-circuit conditions to assess quality. The CCI-driven FAPbI3 achieved over 50% PLQE, while the PLQE of the control FAPbI3 reached approximately 23% (Fig. 4d). The trends in the carrier lifetime and carrier density align with these results (Supplementary Note 7 and Supplementary Figs. 25 and 26). The mobility and diffusion length under open-circuit conditions increased from approximately 16 cm2 V−1 s−1 and 1.6 µm for the control to 22 cm2 V−1 s−1 and 2.4 µm for the CCI-driven FAPbI3, respectively (Fig. 4e,f). The diffusion length of CCI-driven FAPbI3 is comparable to that of additive-enhanced FAPbI3 films. Achieving these metrics with the base composition, without complex additive combinations, offers greater process flexibility for long-term technological advancements. In addition, it is noteworthy that such a CCI-driven FAPbI3 possesses intrinsically excellent phase stability. To accelerate phase stability testing in film form, the fabricated films were exposed to 60% RH, followed by absorbance measurements. The control FAPbI3 transitioned to the δ-phase after 250 h, whereas the CCI-driven FAPbI3 showed no phase transition during the same period (Fig. 4g). In addition, no discernible changes in the PL spectra were observed after 500 h of 1-sun continuous irradiation at 85 °C (Supplementary Fig. 27). Although control FAPbI3 films exhibited a blueshift in the PL peak position, CCI-driven FAPbI3 showed no change in the PL emission position. To measure the intrinsic material stability independent of external strain from the substrates, XRD was performed on perovskite powders scraped after fabrication (Fig. 4h). After 100 h in air, the control FAPbI3 powder transitioned to the δ-phase, whereas the photoactive phase of the CCI-driven FAPbI3 powder was maintained. These stability improvements arise not from a change in the thermodynamic landscape but from the suppression of kinetic δ-phase nucleation pathways. CCI-driven FAPbI3 exhibits substantially reduced internal strain and a more uniform FA distribution, which minimize defect-induced initiation sites for the α-to-δ transition. These improvements in environmental stability and performance are attributed to the resolution of local chemical imbalances, orientation uniformity and optoelectronic material enhancements, directly contributing to device performance. CCI-driven FAPbI3 was employed as the absorber layer in PSCs fabricated using a standard architecture with SnO2 and 2,2ʹ,7,7ʹ-tetrakis(N,N-di-4-methoxyphenylamine)-9,9ʹ-spirobifluorene (Spiro-OMeTAD) as electron and hole transporting layers, respectively. The best performances for the control and CCI-driven FAPbI3 devices, without any surface passivation, obtained from the current density–voltage (J–V) curve are displayed in Fig. 5a. In the CCI-driven FAPbI3 device, a PCE of 26.25% was achieved with a short-circuit current density (JSC) of 26.40 mA cm−2, an open-circuit voltage (VOC) of 1.183 V and a fill factor of 84.05% under standard test conditions for solar cells. It also demonstrated a stabilized power output of 25.71% at the maximum power point (Supplementary Fig. 28). This enhancement in performance was achieved by improving all the photovoltaic parameters compared with those of the control device. Moreover, an independent external institution certified a PCE of 25.61% (Supplementary Fig. 29). This performance increase from the CCI-driven FAPbI3 was replicated in PSCs with an expanded active area of 1 cm², resulting in a PCE of 24.90% (Supplementary Fig. 30). Using conventional solvent-assisted surface passivation with octylammonium iodide on FAPbI3, the device efficiency was improved, but the improvement was limited to a PCE of 24.3% (Supplementary Fig. 31). The stark contrast among the control, surface-only passivation and CCI-driven FAPbI3 demonstrates that the distribution of FA cations has a crucial effect on device performance. Statistical evidence supports the reliability of device performance improvements and trends throughout the process (Supplementary Fig. 32). The CCI-driven 3D process achieves a uniform bulk composition, enabling high efficiencies comparable to those of the best additive methods while addressing challenges related to reproducibility and stability. a, J–V curves of PSCs with FAPbI3 and CCI-driven FAPbI3 as light-harvesting layers; the solid and dashed lines represent the reverse and forward scans, respectively. b, EQE and photovoltaic bandgap (({E}_{{text{g}}}^{{text{PV}}})) of FAPbI3 and CCI-driven devices; ({E}_{{text{g}}}^{{text{PV}}}) is obtained from d(EQE)/dE, and the difference between devices is presented as (Delta {E}_{{text{g}}}^{{text{PV}}}). c, Operational stability of encapsulated PSCs under 1-sun illumination with MPPT at room temperature. T80 is defined as the elapsed time at which the PCE decreases to 80% of its initial performance. d, Accelerated stability test of encapsulated PSCs under thermal stress (60 °C and 100 °C) and continuous 1-sun illumination with MPPT. Degradation rates at each temperature (k60 and k100) indicate the speed of performance loss under thermal and illumination stress. FF, fill factor. The CCI-driven FAPbI3 device exhibited a JSC of 26.40 mA cm−2, as determined by the external quantum efficiency (EQE), attributed to an 11-meV redshift in the photovoltaic bandgap (({E}_{{text{g}}}^{{text{PV}}})) rather than an improved extraction performance (Fig. 5b). This reduction in ({E}_{{text{g}}}^{{text{PV}}}) can be attributed to the variation in the light absorbing material’s properties and device structure. The optical bandgap shifts in the CCI-driven FAPbI3 film, arising from lattice expansion and structural modifications, suggest that the ({E}_{{text{g}}}^{{text{PV}}}) decrease is primarily related to changes in the material’s properties (Supplementary Fig. 33). To detect defects at the device level, the solar cells were operated with light-emitting diodes (LEDs) to measure the external radiation efficiency (ERE). The electroluminescence spectrum was obtained by injecting the current density corresponding to the JSC into each solar cell (Supplementary Fig. 34). The ERE of the CCI-driven FAPbI3 device was 11.71% under standard test conditions, far surpassing the 0.74% ERE of the control device (Supplementary Fig. 35). The results of the VOC loss analysis, which is based on the above EQE and ERE, are shown in Supplementary Fig. 36, confirming that the CCI-driven FAPbI3 device achieves 95.63% of the radiative open-circuit voltage limit (VOC-rad). We conducted stability tests under various stress conditions, including light and thermal stress. As shown in Fig. 5c, the encapsulated CCI-driven FAPbI3 device maintained 95.2% of its initial PCE of 25.65% during 2,000 h (T95 > 2,000 h) of 1-sun illumination at maximum power point tracking (MPPT) and room temperature. By contrast, the device with control FAPbI3 showed a decrease in the PCE to 83.7% of its initial value (23.34%) after only 220 h (T90 = 60 h). Moreover, we aimed to determine the operational stability of CCI-driven FAPbI3 by applying thermal stress45. Notably, owing to the thermal instability of Spiro-OMeTAD present in the standard structure, PSCs with inverted architectures (FTO/Me-4PACz/control or CCI FAPbI3/C60/ZnO/Au) were used for stability tests under thermal stress46 (Supplementary Fig. 37). The introduction of thermal stress at 60 °C gradually decreased the performance of the control and CCI-driven FAPbI3, reducing their efficiency to 81.60% and 95.01% of their initial efficiency after 110 h, respectively, while increasing the thermal stress to 100 °C caused a more severe reduction in efficiency (Fig. 5d). By deriving the degradation rate (k) at each temperature from the respective degree of efficiency decrease, the degradation rates at 60 °C (k60) were 1.77 × 10−3 h−1 and 1.58 × 10−4 h−1 for the control and CCI-driven FAPbI3, respectively. At 100 °C, the rates (k100) were 2.8 × 10−2 h−1 and 8.28 × 10−3 h−1 for the control and CCI-driven FAPbI3, respectively. The temperature dependence of the degradation rate yields the activation energies for degradation, which were 0.616 ± 0.021 eV and 0.947 ± 0.013 eV for the control and CCI-driven FAPbI3, respectively (Supplementary Fig. 38). The degradation activation energy of the CCI-driven FAPbI3 device is the highest reported thus far (Supplementary Table 2). Moreover, these accelerated ageing tests provide information about the device lifetime (T80), which corresponds to 80% of the initial efficiency and serves as an indicator of solar cell stability. By calculating the acceleration factor from the temperature-dependent degradation rate, the T80 of the CCI-driven FAPbI3 device at room temperature was estimated to be approximately 24,800 h. Notably, this remarkable improvement in device lifetime was derived from remediation of both the bulk and surface of the 3D perovskite, demonstrating that perovskite has the potential to meet market performance requirements for solar cells. The generalizability of CCI-induced lattice reorganization was further confirmed in narrow-bandgap PbSn perovskite alloys, where the champion device achieved a PCE of 24.45% (Supplementary Fig. 39 and Supplementary Note 8). These findings demonstrate the broad applicability of CCI-driven lattice reorganization to complex perovskite compositions. This study identifies and quantifies interfacial molecular interactions that arise under simple contact between framework-structured perovskites. Cations and Pb–I octahedra within the perovskite framework interact through mere physical contact, reversibly modulating PL and phase transition behaviour. Dipole cations experience rotational constraints imposed by the opposing interface. Additional heating under CCI condition triggers a previously unreported mode of 3D perovskite recrystallization. Without permanent additives of 2D/3D junction formation, CCI-annealing achieves a uniform FA cation distribution throughout the 3D bulk, reduced lattice orientation dispersion and lattice parameters aligned with theoretical values. As a result, CCI-driven FAPbI3 exhibit a PLQE exceeding 50% enabled by enhanced carrier mobility and lifetime, together with markedly improved optical, thermal and chemical stability. Solar cells utilizing CCI-driven FAPbI3 achieve a PCE of 26.25% and a projected operational lifetime exceeding 20,000 h. These findings demonstrate that simple physical contact not only modulates the optoelectronic properties but also triggers unconventional recrystallization in halide perovskites. The phenomena uncovered here point towards device functionalities enabled by engineered contact molecular interactions in framework-structured materials. Urea, potassium chloride (KCl, 99.999%), thioglycolic acid, hydrochloric acid (HCl, 37%), N,N-dimethylformamide (DMF, 99.8%), dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO, ≥99.9%), acetonitrile (ACN, 99.8%), chlorobenzene (CB, 99.8%), bis(trifluoromethane)sulfonimide lithium salt (Li-TFSI, 99.95%), 4-tert-butylpyridine (98%), zinc oxide (ZnO), tin(II) iodide (SnI2), tin(II) fluoride (SnF2), bathocuproine, glycine hydrochloride, C60, [6,6]-phenyl-C61-butyric acid methyl ester (PCBM) and nanoparticle ink solution were purchased from Sigma Aldrich. FA iodide (>99.99%), methylammonium iodide, methylammonium chloride (MACl, >99.99%) and n-octylammonium iodide (>99%) were purchased from Greatcell solar. 2,2′,7,7′-tetrakis[N,N-di(4-methoxyphenyl)amino]-9,9′-spirobifluorene (spiro-OMeTAD) and tris(2-(1H-pyrazol-1-yl)-4-tert-butylpyridine)cobalt(III) tri[bis(trifluoromethane)]sulfonamide (FK209) were purchased from Lumtec. Lead(II) iodide (99.99%), [4-(3,6-dimethyl-9H-carbazol-9-yl)butyl]phosphonic acid (Me-4PACz), ethane-1,2-diammonium iodide (EDAI2) and guanidine thiocyanate (GuaSCN) were purchased from the Tokyo Chemical Industry. SnCl2·2H2O, 2-methoxyethanol (2-Me, 99%+) was purchased from Alfa Aesar. Diethyl ether (99.5%) was purchased from SAMCHUN. Poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) polystyrene sulfonate (PEDOT:PSS; Al 4083) were purchased from Ossila. The black-phase FAPbI3 micro powder was synthesized in accordance with previously published protocols4,47. Specifically, the micro powder was synthesized by using 0.8 M precursor solution containing FA iodide and PbI2 in 33 ml of 2-Me. The precursor solution with stirring bar was heated to 120 °C in an oil bath and then precipitated using the retrograde method for 3 h. The filtered FAPbI3 micro powder was baked at 150 °C for 30 min. A mixed solution of HI solution (16 ml) and H3PO2 solution (2 ml) was prepared in a 200-ml glass volumetric flask. PbO powder (2,232 mg, 10 mmol) was dissolved by heating to boiling under stirring, and it formed a bright yellow solution; 1,669 μl (10 mmol) of octylamine was then added to this solution and stirring was discontinued. The temperature was lowered to 80 °C over 30 min. The solution was left at room temperature until orange crystals began to form. The crystals were isolated by suction filtration and thoroughly dried in a vacuum chamber. ITO substrates of 2.5 cm × 2.5 cm were sequentially washed with deionized water, acetone, and 2-propanol for 15 min each. The substrates were then cleaned with UV/O3 for 15 min for better wetting of the 2D perovskite precursor solution. 0.2 M (R)2PbI4 (where R is C4, C8, or C12) precursor solution was prepared by dissolving in DMSO and DMF with a volume ratio of 1:8. The precursor solution was then spin-coated on the substrate at 5,000 rpm (acceleration 5,000 rpm s−1) for 20 s; 1 ml of diethyl ether was quickly poured onto the substrate at 10 s. Then, the 2D perovskite film was transferred to a hot plate and heat-treated at 80 °C for 5 min. For the PbSn devices, an EDAPbI4 precursor solution with a concentration of 0.2 M was prepared by dissolving EDAI2 and PbI2 in a 1:1 molar ratio in a mixed solvent of DMF and DMSO (8:1, v/v). The precursor was then spin-coated onto ITO substrates at 6,000 rpm (acceleration 6,000 rpm s−1) for 30 s, and 1 ml of diethyl ether was quickly dripped onto the substrate 10 s before the end of the spin-coating step. The films were subsequently annealed at 100 °C for 5 min. We recommend that the 2D perovskite film be produced at 30–40% relative humidity. Prepatterned Ashahi FTO substrates were cleaned with deionized water, acetone, ethanol and 2-propanol for 15 min, respectively. The substrates were then treated with UV/O3 for 30 min before tin oxide (SnO2) deposition. 10 mM of SnCl2·2H2O with 10 g of urea was dissolved in 200 μl of thioglycolic acid, 10 ml of HCl and 800 ml of deionized water. FTO substrate was dipped in the solution at 90 °C for 6 h according to previous reports2,48. The substrates for depositing SnO2 were then heat-treated at 150 °C for 6 h. Prepatterned Ashahi FTO substrates were cleaned with deionized water, acetone, ethanol and 2-propanol for 15 min, respectively. The substrates were then treated with UV/O3 for 60 min. A total of 0.1 ml of Me-4PACz solution (0.4 mg ml−1 in ethanol) was loaded onto the substrate and coated at 3,000 rpm (acceleration 3,000 rpm s−1) for 30 s. Then, the Me-4PACz coated substrate was heat-treated at 120 °C for 10 min. This process was repeated twice to ensure device reproducibility. For the PbSn devices, PEDOT:PSS diluted with deionized water at a 1:4 volume ratio was spin-coated onto FTO substrates at 6,000 rpm for 40 s, followed by thermal annealing at 120 °C for 20 min. The substrates were then immediately transferred to a nitrogen-filled glovebox after annealing. The FTO/SnO2 substrates were cleaned by UV–ozone for a further 15 min. KCl solution (30 mM KCl in deionized water) was spin-coated on the FTO/SnO2 substrate at 5,000 rpm (acceleration 2,500 rpm s−1) for 30 s. Then, the substrate was annealed at 150 °C for 10 min. A total of 1.8 M perovskite precursor solution with the composition of FAPbI3 was prepared by dissolving 1.317 g (2.08 mmol) of FAPbI3 and 0.0492 g (0.728 mmol) of MACl in 1.01 ml (0.951 g) of DMF and 0.15 ml (0.1625 g, 2.08 mmol) of DMSO. Then, 70 μl of the precursor solution was dropped and spin-coated on the FTO/SnO2 substrate through a two-step spin-coating procedure with 1,000 rpm (acceleration 1,000 rpm s−1) for 5 s and 5,000 rpm (acceleration 1,000 rpm s−1) for 10 s. A total of 1 ml of diethyl ether was quickly poured on the substrate 1 s before the second step end. The yellow film was quickly transferred to a hot plate and annealed at 120 °C for 100 min. Al2O3 dispersion solution (0.2 wt%) was spin-coated on the FTO/Me-4PACz substrate at 3,000 rpm for 30 s. Then, the substrate was annealed at 120 °C for 5 min. A total of 1.8 M perovskite precursor solution with the composition of FAPbI3 was prepared by dissolving 1.317 g (2.08 mmol) of FAPbI3 and 0.0421 g (0.624 mmol) of MACl in 1.01 ml (0.951 g) of DMF and 0.15 ml (0.1625 g, 2.08 mmol) of DMSO. Then, 70 μl of the precursor solution was dropped and spin-coated on the FTO/Me-4PACz substrate through a two-step spin-coating procedure with 1,000 rpm (acceleration 1,000 rpm s−1) for 5 s and 5,000 rpm (acceleration 1,000 rpm s−1) for 10 s. A total of 0.1 ml of CB was quickly poured on the substrate 1 s before the second step end. The yellow film was quickly transferred to a hot plate and annealed at 120 °C for 100 min. For the PbSn device, a 2.2-M [FASnI3]0.6[MAPbI3]0.4 precursor solution was prepared in a mixed solvent of DMF and DMSO with a 4:1 volume ratio. SnF2 (5 mol% with respect to SnI2), GuaSCN (7 mol% with respect to methylammonium iodide) and glycine hydrochloride (2 mol% with respect to the total Sn and Pb) were added as additives, and the solution was stirred at room temperature for 2 h. The PbSn perovskite films were then deposited on PEDOT:PSS-coated substrates by spin-coating at 1,000 rpm for 10 s and 4,000 rpm for 30 s, during which 0.5 ml of toluene was dripped onto the substrate 20 s before the end of the second step. The resulting perovskite films were annealed at 100 °C for 10 min. The previously fabricated C8N1 or C12N1 thin film was placed on the 3D perovskite thin film so that the two surfaces were in contact. The stacked films were moved on the hot plate to supply heat towards the 2D direction, and then the balance weight (100 g) was placed on the stacked films. For CCI-driven 3D PbSn perovskite, the 2D perovskite was replaced with EDAPbI4, and the same procedure was conducted in a nitrogen-filled glovebox. The Spiro-OMeTAD solution was prepared by adding 23 μl of Li-TFSI solution (540 mg ml−1 in ACN), 10 μl of FK209 solution (376 mg ml−1 in ACN) and 39 μl of 4-tert-butylpyridine to 100 mg of spiro-OMeTAD in 1.1 ml of CB. The Spiro-OMeTAD was deposited by dynamic spin coating on the FAPbI3 and CCI-driven FAPbI3 at 2,000 rpm for 30 s. Finally, the gold electrode was deposited by thermal evaporation. The deposition area of the counter electrode was fixed at 0.16 cm2. The C60/ZnO bilayer was used as the electron transport layer in the inverted structure46. First, a 20-nm-thick layer of C60 was formed by thermal evaporation. For ZnO layer, ZnO nanoparticle ink was diluted with 2-propanol, coated at 3,000 rpm for 30 s and annealed at 80 °C for 5 min. Finally, the silver electrode was deposited by thermal evaporation. In the PbSn device fabrication, a PCBM solution (7.5 mg ml−1) was deposited onto the PbSn perovskite layer by spin-coating at 5,000 rpm for 50 s and then annealed at 100 °C for 5 min. After the substrates were cooled to room temperature, C60 (15 nm) and bathocuproine (8 nm) layers were sequentially formed by thermal evaporation at 0.1–0.3 Å s−1. Finally, a 130-nm Cu electrode was thermally evaporated at a deposition rate of 3.0 Å s−1. The deposition area of the counter electrode was fixed at 0.16 cm2. The film morphologies were obtained by using a field-emission scanning electron microscope (Hitachi, S-4800). XRD was performed using a Rigaku SmartLab X-ray diffractometer with an X-ray tube (copper Kα, λ = 1.54 Å, 200 mA, 45 kV, 9 kW) at the National Center for Inter-university Research Facilities at Seoul National University. All XRD curves were measured under a scan rate 1° per minute with a step of 0.02°. Standard material (LaB6) was performed to confirm the instrument broadening. The values of full width at half-maximum were adjusted by using the instrumental broadening according to the previous report49. The optical absorbance properties of the films were measured using UV–Vis–near-infrared spectrophotometer (Agilent, Cary 5000). To obtain the J–V PCE, the devices were measured using a solar simulator (Newport, 94043A) with a source meter (Keithley 2400). The light intensity with AM1.5G illumination was adjusted using a calibrated reference cell (Newport, KG with quartz and KG3). J–V PCEs were measured from −0.2 V to 1.2 V at 100 mV s−1 and 10-mV step intervals. All devices were covered with a metal mask, fixing the active area to 0.096 cm². External quantum efficiencies were measured from 320 nm to 900 nm at 10-nm intervals (Newport, QuantX-300). Stabilized power outputs were obtained using a potentiostat (IviumStat.h). The DFT calculations were performed using the VASP code with projector augmented-wave pseudopotentials50,51. A plane-wave cutoff of 600 eV and a 3 × 3 × 1 k-point mesh were adopted. The Perdew–Burke–Ernzerhof functional was used to describe exchange–correlation interactions52, whereas van der Waals forces were accounted for using Grimme’s D3 correction53. All residual atomic forces were converged to below 0.02 eV Å−1 during structural relaxation. The 3D crystal structure of the perovskite was visualized using the VESTA software54. The grazing-incidence XRD measurements were conducted at the PLS-II 6D beamline of Pohang Accelerator Laboratory in Korea. The X-rays emitted from the bending magnet were monochromatized to 18.986 keV (λ = 0.6530 Å) using a double-crystal monochromator and focused both vertically and horizontally using a sagittal Si(111) crystal and toroidal mirror. The grazing-incidence wide-angle XRD patterns were recorded with a 2D X-ray charge-coupled device detector (MX 225-HS, Rayonix). The incidence angles of 0.117°, 0.145°, 0.3°, 0.483° and 0.8° were used for investigating the penetration depth dependency of perovskite films. The diffraction angles were calibrated using LaB6 (standard reference material 660c, National Institute of Standards and Technology), and the sample-to-detector distance was ~240 mm. The 2D grazing-incidence wide-angle XRD images were converted to one-dimensional qx or qz profiles using a MATLAB-based homemade program. PiFM data were obtained under ambient conditions using a VistaScope AFM platform, manufactured by Molecular Vista, exploiting a QCL laser (760–1,860 cm−1). The technique provides simultaneous topographic and vibrational spectroscopy information. In the experiments reported here, the sample was mapped at 1,711 cm−1 characteristic of the C=N stretching band of the FA ion. The ‘bulk’ region was scanned with direct detection mode which samples a depth of up to ~300 nm, where the cantilever is actuated at its primary resonance frequency v1, whereas the repetition rate of the stimulating laser is adjusted to correspond to the secondary resonance frequency v2. The ‘surface’ region was scanned using sideband mode detection which samples a depth of ~20–30 nm, wherein the second driving force is modulated to a ‘beat’ frequency, which corresponds to the difference or sum of the two mechanical resonances as v1 − v2 (or v1 + v2). The PLQE and PL spectrum were obtained a 3.2-inch integrating sphere (Horiba, FL-sphere), a fluorometer (Horiba, Fluorolog-3), continuous wave mode of diode laser with 485 nm (Horiba, DeltaDiode-485L-CW) at a continuous power density of 73 mWcm−2 (excitation density of 1.8 × 1018 cm−3). The focus area of the laser was confirmed using a laser beam profiler (Newport, LBP2-HR-VIS3). The emission light was collected with a double grating monochromator (Horiba, FL-1005) and a liquid-nitrogen-cooled low-noise photomultiplier tube (Hamamatsu, R5509-43). The absolute PLQE was calculated through the PL spectrum under three conditions: (1) reference laser intensity condition, (2) indirect excitation condition and (3) direct excitation condition55. PL decays were obtained time-correlated single-photon-counting method using the double grating monochromator (Horiba, FL-1005) and the liquid-nitrogen-cooled low-noise photomultiplier tube (Hamamatsu, R5509-43). To excite the perovskite film, the pulsed mode of a diode laser with 485 nm (Horiba, DeltaDiode-485L-CW) was used at a fluence of 1.49 nJ cm−2 and a repetition rate of 62.5 kHz. The photo-Hall effect measurement (PHEM) specimens were prepared using a prepatterned ITO substrate according to the previous report56. All specimens were encapsulated with edge sealing type using 1.1 mm glass and UV-curing resin (Three Bond, 3052B), which was cured under a UV lamp with peak emission at 365 nm (KJUV, KJUV-HS-05). PHEM was measured using a customized PHEM system, which consists of a Hall effect measurement system (ECOPIA, HS7000) with a magnet kit (353 T), 100 W LED with 465 nm and source meter unit (Keithley 2450). An optical power meter (Newport, 1919-R) was used to calculate the absorbed photon density at each light intensity. To control the change of light intensity, the temperature of the LED was maintained through a thermoelectric device. At every light intensity, voltage signals were measured, and then photoconductivity and Hall coefficient were calculated using van der Pauw method. To obtain transport parameters of each carrier, carrier-resolved photo-Hall effect analysis was used, and the final transport parameters were extracted from initial transport parameters using a generalized (triangle mu) model57,58. The mobility values were obtained by fitting the experimental data according to established models, assuming constant mobility for holes and electrons in Fig. 4e, following precedent in the literature57. The electroluminescence spectrum was obtained using the double grating monochromator (Horiba, FL-1005), the liquid-nitrogen-cooled low-noise photomultiplier tube (Hamamatsu, R5509-43), the 3.2-inch integrating sphere (Horiba, FL-sphere) and the source meter unit (Keithley 2450) under injection current density, which corresponded to extracted from the device in the standard test condition. Electroluminescence quantum efficients were measured by directly attaching a calibrated silicon photodiode (Hamamatsu, S1227-1010BQ), which was large collection area than the active area of device. The inject current of the source meter unit (Keithley 2450) and the detected photocurrent of the photodiode were controlled and measured using the software ‘SweepMe!’59. For the operating test, all devices were encapsulated using 1.1-mm cover glass, polyisobutylene (PIB) tape and UV-curing resin (Three Bond, 3052B). First, the corners of the device, which does not operate as the solar cell, were removed with 2-Me. PIB tape was placed between the device and the cover glass, and the pressure was applied to proceed with the primary encapsulation. Second, edges of device were covered with the resin. The operational tests were performed using a self-customized system and LED solar simulator (Newport, LSH-7320). MPPT was measured using a source meter (Keithley 2450). 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RS-2023-00208467 to J.H.N. and RS-2025-02316700 to J.H.N.) and Korea Institute of Energy Technology Evaluation and Planning (KETEP) grant funded by the Ministry of Trade, Industry, and Energy (grant no. 20214000000680 to J.H.N.). This work was also supported by Technology Innovation Program of the Korea Evaluation Institute of Industrial Technology (KEIT) (20016588 to M.C.) funded by Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy (MOTIE) and by Basic Science Research Program through the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF) funded by the Ministry of Education (grant no. 2021R1A6A3A13046255 to S.L.), and by the Korea Research Institute of Chemical Technology (KRICT) (project no. KS2522-30 to T.J.S). The DFT calculations were performed using computational resources sponsored by the DOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy and located at NREL, and the resources of the National Energy Research Scientific Computing Center (NERSC), a DOE Office of Science User Facility located at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, operated under contract no. DE-AC02-05CH11231 using NERSC award BES-ERCAP0032847 (to Y.Y.). These authors contributed equally: Seungmin Lee, Yeoun-Woo Jang. School of Civil, Environmental and Architectural Engineering, Korea University, Seoul, Republic of Korea Seungmin Lee, Hyeonah Cho, Hyojin Hong, Woocheol Han, Oui Jin Oh, Dong Hyun Kim, Dong Hun Kang & Jun Hong Noh Wright Center for Photovoltaics Innovation and Commercialization, Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Toledo, Toledo, OH, USA Seungmin Lee, Jiahao Xie & Yanfa Yan Global Frontier Center for Multiscale Energy Systems, Seoul National University, Seoul, Republic of Korea Yeoun-Woo Jang, Wonjin Cho & Mansoo Choi Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Seoul National University, Seoul, Republic of Korea Yeoun-Woo Jang & Mansoo Choi Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Rice University, Houston, TX, USA Yeoun-Woo Jang Australian Centre for Advanced Photovoltaics, School of Photovoltaic and Renewable Energy Engineering, University of New South Wales, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia Jihoo Lim Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Chonnam National University, Gwangju, Republic of Korea Hyun Jung Mun Graduate School of Semiconductor Materials and Devices Engineering, Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology, Ulsan, Republic of Korea Tae Joo Shin School of Computer Science and Electronic Engineering, Advanced Technology Institute, University of Surrey, Guildford, UK Jae Sung Yun KU-KIST Graduate School of Converging Science and Technology, Korea University, Seoul, Republic of Korea Jae Sung Yun Cardiff Catalysis Institute, School of Chemistry, Cardiff University, Cardiff, UK Josh Davies-Jones & Philip R. Davies Department of Integrative Energy Engineering, Korea University, Seoul, Republic of Korea Jun Hong Noh Search author on:PubMedGoogle Scholar Search author on:PubMedGoogle Scholar Search author on:PubMedGoogle Scholar Search author on:PubMedGoogle Scholar Search author on:PubMedGoogle Scholar Search author on:PubMedGoogle Scholar Search author on:PubMedGoogle Scholar Search author on:PubMedGoogle Scholar Search author on:PubMedGoogle Scholar Search author on:PubMedGoogle Scholar Search author on:PubMedGoogle Scholar Search author on:PubMedGoogle Scholar Search author on:PubMedGoogle Scholar Search author on:PubMedGoogle Scholar Search author on:PubMedGoogle Scholar Search author on:PubMedGoogle Scholar Search author on:PubMedGoogle Scholar Search author on:PubMedGoogle Scholar Search author on:PubMedGoogle Scholar S.L. contributed to the conceptualization, fabrication and characterization for photovoltaic devices, stability test for photovoltaic devices, investigation, visualization and original draft. Y.-W.J. contributed to the conceptualization, synthetization and analysis of 2D perovskite; fabrication and characterization for photovoltaic devices; investigation; visualization; and original draft. J.H.N. contributed to the conceptualization, funding acquisition, project administration, supervision and original draft. M.C. contributed to the conceptualization and funding acquisition. H.C. contributed to the fabrication, characterization and stability test for photovoltaic devices. W.C. contributed to the fabrication and characterization for photovoltaic devices. H.H. and W.H. contributed to the fabrication and characterization for narrow-bandgap devices. O.J.O., D.H. Kim and D.H. Kang contributed to characterization for stability of perovskite film. J.L., J.D.-J., P.R.D. and J.S.Y. contributed to the characterization and interpretation of AFM and PiFM. T.J.S. and H.J.M. contributed to the characterization and interpretation of grazing-incidence wide-angle X-ray scattering. J.X. and Y.Y. contributed to the DFT calculations. Correspondence to Jun Hong Noh. J.H.N., S.L., D.H. Kim, H.H., W.H., O.J.O. and Y.-W.J. are inventors on a Korean patent application related to the technology reported in this work (Korean patent application no. 10-2025-0098833). The other authors declare no competing interests. Nature Energy thanks Ruipeng Li and the other, anonymous, reviewer(s) for their contribution to the peer review of this work. Publisher’s note Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations. a, Schematic illustration of octylammonium (C8) spacer contact configurations for interface formation: i) control, ii) solution-processed octylammonium iodide (C8-I) treatment, iii) solid-state C8-I film, and iv) CCI formation using the framework-embedded C8 spacer configuration. No additional post-treatments were applied after physical contact. b, Comparison of PL decay for the same C8 spacer in different contact configurations. a, Top-view SEM image of the control 3D FAPbI3 film. b, Surface morphologies of FAPbI3 films after CCI treatment using various 2D perovskite films (C4N1, C6N1, C8N1, and C12N1) over a processing temperature range of 30 °C to 150 °C with 30 °C increments. The adsorption energy of the spacers increases in the order C4N1 < C6N1 < C8N1 < C12N1. Scale bars, 1 µm. a–d, Derivative absorbance plots of FAPbI3 films processed with (a) C4N1, (b) C6N1, (c) C8N1, and (d) C12N1 2D perovskites. The processing temperatures are indicated in the legends. Vertical dashed lines mark the absorption feature corresponding to the n = 2 quasi-2D perovskite phase. The adsorption energy of the spacers increases in the order C4N1 < C6N1 < C8N1 < C12N1. The outcomes are classified into three regions: 3D recrystallization (red), intact 3D/2D junction formation (orange), and mixed quasi-2D phase formation (green). The insets schematically illustrate mechanisms within the intact reaction region: 3D recrystallization (top) and intact 3D/2D junction formation (bottom). a, b, Contour maps of PL intensity evolution for (a) C4N1 and (b) C12N1 in contact with FAPbI3. 3D and 2D perovskite films were placed in direct physical contact with each other. The excitation light was incident from the 2D perovskite side while PL spectra were recorded at equal time intervals. Annealing started 10 min after the measurement began, continued for 60 min, and was then stopped. To exclude thermal effects, the sample was subsequently cooled to room temperature for 1 h. a, b, Azimuthal intensity profiles of the (110)t plane ring of (a) control FAPbI3 and (b) CCI-driven FAPbI3 at an incident angle αi of 0.117° (penetration depth dp ~ 24 nm). Supplementary Figs. 1–39, Tables 1 and 2, Notes 1–8 and References. Source data for Supplementary Fig. 32. Source data for Fig. 5c,d. Open Access This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License, which permits any non-commercial use, sharing, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if you modified the licensed material. You do not have permission under this licence to share adapted material derived from this article or parts of it. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article’s Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article’s Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/. Reprints and permissions Lee, S., Jang, YW., Cho, H. et al. Contact-triggered molecular interactions enable structural refinement of perovskite layers in solar cells. Nat Energy (2026). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41560-026-02027-4 Download citation Received: Accepted: Published: Version of record: DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41560-026-02027-4 Anyone you share the following link with will be able to read this content: Sorry, a shareable link is not currently available for this article.
China’s rapid electrification has been hailed as a miracle. By some measures, India is even further ahead. The nation is electrifying faster and using fewer fossil fuels per capita than China did when it was at similar levels of economic development, according to a new report from the think tank Ember. It’s a sign that clean electricity could be the most direct way to boost growth for other developing economies, too. That flies against “the orthodox narrative that emerging markets must follow the same path the West and China took: go from biomass to fossil fuels,” said Kingsmill Bond, a strategist at Ember and one of the authors of the report. Ember’s analysis adjusted China’s and India’s gross domestic product for the cost of living, putting India’s income per person of about $11,000 today at the same level as China’s in 2012. That allowed the report’s authors to compare the two economies’ energy systems at a similar level of development. Even as it boosts green electricity, India continues to rely heavily on fossil fuels. The government is considering new plans that would double India’s coal power capacity by 2047, and the country’s oil consumption growth was set to outpace China’s last year. But the South Asian economy’s coal and oil consumption per capita is a fraction of what China’s was at similar income levels. In absolute terms, India’s fossil fuel consumption is growing at slower rates than China’s today. That’s mainly because India has access to solar panels and electric cars at a much lower price than China did about a decade ago. Chinese investments lowered the costs of what experts call “modular technologies” — the production of each solar panel, battery cell and electric car enables engineers to learn how to make it more efficiently. In India, 5% of all new car sales in 2024 were electric. The country’s per-capita consumption of oil for road transport is 60% lower than when China hit that milestone. As a result, Bond says that India’s peak road-oil consumption per person will likely never reach Chinese levels. Bond and his team at Ember argue that countries such as India, who don’t have significant domestic fossil-fuel reserves, will become “electrostates” that meet most of their energy needs through electricity generated from clean sources. No country is an electrostate yet, Bond says, but countries are increasingly turning to green electricity to power their economies. Nations that are less developed than India will see even more advantages as the cost of electricity technologies, from solar panels and electric vehicles to battery components and minerals, continue to fall. Neither India nor China is going electric purely to cut emissions or meet climate targets, says Bond. They’re doing so because it makes economic sense, particularly for India, which imports more than 40% of its primary energy in the form of coal, oil and gas, according to the International Energy Agency. “To grow and have energy independence, India needs to reduce the terrible burden of fossil-fuel imports worth $150 billion each year,” said Bond. “India needs to find other solutions.” The difficulty is that today China is the world’s biggest manufacturer of all kinds of electricity technologies, which could create a bottleneck in other parts of the world. China has leveraged that dominance, for example to extract tariff concessions from the US in return for rare earths. Chinese companies also control the equipment other countries need to kickstart domestic manufacturing, creating another potential roadblock for would-be electrostates. This month, Indian giant Reliance Industries Ltd. paused plans to make lithium-ion battery cells at home after it failed to secure necessary equipment from China. Bond acknowledged that these risks could grow as trade becomes more contentious and slow down electrification. Conversely, if countries like India find ways to grow electrotech manufacturing without absolute dependence on Chinese equipment, electrification could speed up further. With the United States and Europe continuing to add exclusions for Chinese-linked electrotech, countries like India will have an incentive to invest in their own manufacturing capacity. “We are probably at a moment of peak Chinese dominance in the electrotech system, as the rest of the world starts to wake up and realize that this is the energy future,” he said. With assistance from Jeremy Diamond
Solar Power World By Kelly Pickerel | Maximo, the solar robotics company incubated by AES, has successfully installed 100 MW of solar panels at the AES Bellefield project, an under-construction 1-GW project in Kern County, California. “Reaching 100 MW is an important milestone for Maximo and for the role robotics can play in solar construction. It demonstrates that field robotics can move beyond experimentation and deliver consistent results at utility scale. As solar deployment continues to accelerate globally, technologies that improve installation speed, quality and reliability will become increasingly important,” said Chris Shelton, president of Maximo. The Bellefield project evolved from a single robot to a coordinated fleet of four Maximo robot units operating in parallel. Peak unit installation rates reached 474 modules per day, with Maximo’s direct crew members installing up to 24 modules per hour per person. This is 60% higher than the 10-15 modules per hour with traditional methods in the region, as a result of optimized integration between robotic placement, skilled fastening technicians and union team members. NVIDIA technologies supported the development and readiness of the Maximo robotic fleet deployed in California. Leveraging NVIDIA AI infrastructure together with NVIDIA Omniverse libraries and NVIDIA Isaac Sim open robotics simulation framework, the Maximo team was able to develop, test and refine robotic capabilities through physics-based simulation and AI driven modeling before deploying updates in the field. The combination of AI, vision, robotics and simulation driven engineering reduced development and validation timelines and increased confidence in field performance as the robotic fleet scaled. “Physical AI is a powerful force for accelerating real world energy infrastructure,” said Marc Spieler, Senior Director of Energy, NVIDIA. “By combining AI infrastructure, simulation, and edge AI, platforms like Maximo demonstrate how physical AI can help accelerate solar panel installation while maintaining high reliability in complex environments.” Amazon Web Services (AWS) powered the development, deployment and operation of Maximo’s AI-driven field systems. AWS provides scalable computing, automated software delivery, and advanced data analytics, including real-time construction intelligence, enabling Maximo to collect operational robotics data and continuously improve performance. “Innovation in carbon-free energy development is critical to meeting the world’s growing energy needs,” said Kara Hurst, Chief Sustainability Officer, Amazon. “By combining AI and robotics, technologies like Maximo demonstrate how we can accelerate the transition to carbon-free energy while improving safety and efficiency. Amazon is proud to support projects that push the boundaries of what’s possible in sustainable infrastructure.” News item from Maximo Kelly Pickerel has more than 15 years of experience reporting on the U.S. solar industry and is currently editor in chief of Solar Power World. Email Kelly.
In recent significant developments for the Indian solar sector, Ceigall signed two long-term power purchase agreements (PPAs) worth US$145 million, while Adani Green Energy commissions 510.1MW of renewable energy capacity at its Khavda site and Coal India (CIL) extends a corporate guarantee of INR13.6 billion (US$144 million) to its subsidiary for 875MW solar project in Rajasthan. Punjab-based engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) company Ceigall has signed two long-term power purchase agreements (PPAs) through its subsidiaries, Ceigall Green Energy MH1 and MH2, with Maharashtra State Electricity Distribution Company for two solar PV projects totalling 337MW in Maharashtra. Get Premium Subscription The first project, with a capacity of 190MW, will be developed across four districts in Maharashtra, with an estimated EPC cost of INR7.72 billion. The second, a 147MW project spanning two districts, is estimated to cost INR5.97 billion. Both projects are expected to be completed within 18 months. The projects are being developed under Mukhyamantri Saur Krushi Vahini Yojana 2.0 (MSKVY 2.0) –an initiative aimed to provide farmers with reliable daytime electricity through localised solar generation. The company will deliver the EPC of the solar PV plants, followed by their operation and maintenance (O&M), and will supply power under a 25-year PPA. Ceigall has expanded its renewable energy portfolio to over 550MW of solar capacity as of February 2026. Recently, the company secured a Letter of Award from India’s state-owned solar power developer Rewa Ultra Mega Solar Limited (RUMSL) to develop 220MW of solar-plus-storage capacity in Morena, Madhya Pradesh. Adani Green Energy has commissioned 510.1MW of renewable energy capacity at its Khavda site in Gujarat, including 300MW of solar. The capacity was brought online through several subsidiaries, including Adani Green Energy Twenty Six B with 125MW, Adani Green Energy Twenty Four with 150MW and Adani Solar Energy Jodhpur Six with 25MW of PV capacity. Following the addition, the company’s total operational renewable energy capacity increased to 17,982.3MW, it said. The Khavda site, also called Gujarat Hybrid Renewable Energy Park, was first announced by the Indian government in 2020 and is eventually set to comprise 30GW of solar PV and wind capacity in seven phases. Reports vary on the planned completion date, with estimates ranging from late 2026 to 2030. Adani has led the development of the Khavda solar project, which it expects to become the world’s “largest” upon completion. In September 2024, Adani Green Energy signed a 5GW, 25-year PPA with Maharashtra State Electricity Distribution Company to supply power from the Khavda project. The projects are being developed over the next three years and will be connected to the interstate transmission system. In the same month, Adani also formed a joint venture (JV) with French energy utility TotalEnergies to develop a further 1.1GW solar PV portfolio at the site, with Adani contributing assets and TotalEnergies investing US$444 million in equity. The company also commissioned an initial 1GW at the site in March 2024 and secured US$1.36 billion in debt financing to support the development of 2.1GW of solar PV at the site in late 2023. This brought its construction financing framework to US$3 billion at the time. Kolkata-based public sector undertaking Coal India (CIL) has extended a corporate guarantee of INR13.6 billion (US$144 million) to its subsidiary, CIL Rajasthan Akshay Urja Limited (CRAUL), to support the funding and development of an 875MW solar PV project in Rajasthan. The approved corporate guarantee provides 100% backing, allowing CRAUL to secure debt financing for the capital expenditure needed to develop the 875MW solar PV project. This support is intended to facilitate easier access to funding from lenders, mitigating risks typically associated with project financing. Under the terms of the guarantee, however, Coal India would be liable to meet repayment obligations in the event of a default by its subsidiary. CRAUL is a joint venture between Coal India Limited and Rajasthan Rajya Vidyut Utpadan Nigam Limited (RRVUNL). Coal India will hold 74% stake in the project, while RRVUNL will own the remaining 26%.
A Japanese consortium is piloting agrivoltaics using film-type perovskite solar cells over rice paddies to study energy generation alongside crop production. The three-year project will assess impacts on rice yield, land use, and emissions while testing the technology’s performance and commercial viability. Image: Sekisui Chemical Co., Ltd A consortium of Japanese partners are working on a pilot project that has installed an agrivoltaic installation made of film-type perovskite solar cells over rice paddy fields. The five collaborators, Sekisui Solar Film, Terra Inc, Himawari Green Energy, Chiba University and Chiba Bank, entered a memorandum of understanding to deploy the installation at the university’s Kashiwa-no-ha campus, located around half an hour north of the capital, Tokyo, in Japan’s Chiba prefecture. Under the terms of the agreement, Sekisui Solar Film provides the film-type perovskite solar cells, Terra is responsible for the construction, operation and maintenance of the installation and Himawari Green Energy will conduct a business feasibility assessment of an agricultural management model that utilizes perovskite solar cells. Chiba University provides the fields and will be assessing the installation’s impact on agricultural work and crops, while Chiba Bank is providing financial support. The project, set to last three years, will verify the performance of the lens-type perovskite modules in the rice paddy fields, as well as the installation’s impact on the agricultural land, the yield and quality of rice crops and impact on methane emissions. Chiba University will also purchase the electricity generated by the installation. This latest collaboration follows work between Terra and Sekisui Chemical Co, parent company of Sekisui Solar Film, which have been working on verification tests on lens-type modules using film-type perovskite solar cells in Sōsa City since August 2024. Last May, Sekisui Solar Film announced work collaborating on flexible perovskite solar module technologies with the Netherlands Organization for Applied Scientific Research (NTO). The company is also working on a 100 MW perovskite solar production line in Japan, targeted for operations in 2027. Earlier this month, the Japanese government began to develop new standards for agrivoltaics which will require developers to submit cultivation plans, financial projections, equipment designs and evidence that crops can grow beneath panels. It follows a voluntary reference guide from the Japan Photovoltaic Energy Association that features land-sharing approaches to agricultural installations. Previous research has pointed towards agrivoltaics on rice paddies, including a recently-concluded field trial, involving trade‑offs between crop yields and energy output. Last month, Japanese petroleum company Idemitsu Kosan announced its 2 MW agricultural solar power plant, installed 3.8 meters above a rice paddy, is now operational. The project features a community-based model that returns a portion of the profits from power generation to the farmers. This content is protected by copyright and may not be reused. If you want to cooperate with us and would like to reuse some of our content, please contact: editors@pv-magazine.com. More articles from Patrick Jowett Please be mindful of our community standards. Your email address will not be published.Required fields are marked *
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COPYRIGHT 2026 BY CHANNEL 3000. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. THIS MATERIAL MAY NOT BE PUBLISHED, BROADCAST, REWRITTEN OR REDISTRIBUTED. FULTON, Wis. — A brush fire at the North Rock Solar Project burned approximately 10 acres of… Your browser is out of date and potentially vulnerable to security risks. We recommend switching to one of the following browsers:
UK-based flexible PV specialist Power Roll is teaming up with Japanese utility Tokyo Gas to explore the commercial scale-up of its lightweight perovskite technology. The two parties have signed a joint development agreement to advance the market-readiness of Power Roll’s solar film technology and prepare the way for future large-scale production. Get Premium Subscription Power Roll said the partnership would involve the first trial of its perovskite-based solar film outside of Europe, with pre-commercial deployments of the technology planned for Tokyo Gas sites in Japan. The collaboration will evaluate potential use cases, routes to market, certification requirements and commercial potential, with the aim of advancing the technology towards large-scale production and deployment in Japan and beyond. Power Roll’s micro-grooved film technology eliminates the need for the metal indium, which is widely used in other perovskite solar cells and accounts for 40–60% of their cost, the company said. Because of its light weight, Power Roll said its solar film was particularly suited to urban and commercial settings, either on rooftops or building facades. Neil Spann, CEO of Power Roll, said: “This joint development agreement with Tokyo Gas represents a major milestone in our long-standing relationship as we work to bring our game-changing solar film technology to market. “Together, we aim to establish Japan as the global leader in perovskite solar technology while addressing critical energy challenges globally. This partnership underscores the long-term potential of our collaboration to create impactful solutions for renewable energy generation. By combining Power Roll’s cutting-edge solar technology with Tokyo Gas’s market leadership, ability to scale and infrastructure, we are laying the groundwork for a new era in solar power that will redefine how and where solar energy is deployed.” Japan has emerged as a frontrunner in the race to commercialise perovskite solar technologies. In 2024, the country’s Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry set a target of deploying 20GW of perovskite-based PV systems by 2040, while last year, its Ministry of the Environment opened applications for a public subsidy programme aimed at supporting the development of perovskite PV technologies. Power Roll is also collaborating with Swansea University on a joint research project looking at novel characterisation techniques for perovskite solar cells. Launched in January, the study aims to address capability gaps inline and end-of-line testing for perovskite solar cells at scale and high throughput. Without these advancements, perovskite technology companies could face significant hurdles in achieving product accreditation. The project will deliver new inline testing and characterisation tools specifically designed for perovskite devices in manufacturing environments, alongside the development of robust stability guidelines to support industry standards.
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All Rights Reserved, IE Media, Inc. The TOPCon solar cell design improves efficiency and reduces losses. A new bifacial solar cell architecture developed by researchers at Soochow University, Zhejiang Jinko Solar Co. Ltd., and collaborating institutes could address long-standing efficiency limitations in TOPCon solar cells while also enabling more efficient tandem solar technologies. The design combines tunnel oxide passivating contact (TOPCon) structures with perovskite materials, creating a hybrid architecture capable of reducing energy losses and improving performance. “Our work is rooted in a fundamental limitation of current TOPCon solar cells,” Kun Gao and Prof. Xinbo Yang explained. “In industrial TOPCon devices, a boron-diffused p+ emitter is still used on the front side, which introduces significant recombination losses and limits further efficiency improvements. A natural strategy is to replace this emitter with a localized TOPCon contact,” he continued. TOPCon solar cells are already known for their high efficiency, but they come with a major trade-off. Traditional designs require thick polysilicon layers to maintain electrical contact during manufacturing, which increases optical absorption and reduces performance. “A full-area p-type TOPCon layer requires a relatively thick doped polysilicon film to ensure good electrical contact during industrial firing, which leads to strong parasitic optical absorption on the front side,” Gao explained. “This creates a fundamental trade-off in TOPCon technology between reducing recombination and minimizing optical losses.” To overcome this limitation, the researchers redesigned both the front and rear passivating contacts. Instead of using a full-area structure on the front side, they introduced a patterned n-type TOPCon contact that exists only beneath metal fingers. This “finger-type” architecture reduces optical absorption while maintaining strong electrical performance. The team also improved the quality of the TOPCon contact layer by smoothing the silicon surface and using a gradient thermal field deposition process to improve crystal growth and doping efficiency. One of the most significant outcomes of the study is the compatibility of the new TOPCon architecture with perovskite tandem solar cells. Tandem solar cells stack multiple layers with different bandgaps to capture more sunlight across the spectrum, leading to higher efficiency. In testing, the industrial-size TOPCon prototype achieved a certified efficiency of 26.34%. When integrated into a perovskite/TOPCon tandem configuration, efficiency increased significantly. “Importantly, the same TOPCon platform was further used as a bottom cell in monolithic perovskite/TOPCon tandems, enabling a certified efficiency of 32.73%,” Gao said. “This demonstrates the strong compatibility of our design with next-generation tandem technologies,” he continued. The researchers are now working to further improve the patterned front contacts and optimize rear contact performance. Future studies will also focus on improving tandem device stability and reducing optical losses in the silicon bottom cell. “Ultimately, our goal is to develop TOPCon-based device architectures that can achieve both very high efficiency and long-term reliability at industrial scale,” the researchers said. The study presents a potential pathway for next-generation solar cells that combine high efficiency with industrial manufacturing compatibility, which could play a significant role in the continued advancement of photovoltaic technology and large-scale renewable energy deployment. Atharva is a full-time content writer with a post-graduate degree in media & amp; entertainment and a graduate degree in electronics & telecommunications. He has written in the sports and technology domains respectively. In his leisure time, Atharva loves learning about digital marketing and watching soccer matches. His main goal behind joining Interesting Engineering is to learn more about how the recent technological advancements are helping human beings on both societal and individual levels in their daily lives. Exclusive content, expert insights and a deeper dive into engineering and tech. No ads, no limits. Exclusive content, expert insights and a deeper dive into engineering and tech. No ads, no limits. Premium Follow
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In just eight years, Solar DQD, an Argentina-based engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contractor specialised in solar photovoltaic (PV) plants, has grown from an emerging market player into one of the country’s leading utility-scale solar builders. The company has already delivered more than 1.2 GW of solar PV capacity across Argentina and currently maintains the operational capability to execute up to 600 MW of projects per year, positioning itself as one of the most active EPC firms in the country’s renewable energy sector. Alongside this expansion, Solar DQD has begun to diversify its business model by developing its own renewable generation assets and energy storage projects, while preparing a regional expansion strategy across several Latin American markets. “We have an operational construction capacity of around 600 MW per year, and we are prepared for the overlap of large projects that could emerge once Argentina’s Large Investment Incentive Regime (RIGI) becomes fully operational,” said Alejandro Garín Odriozola, Chief Operating Officer of Solar DQD, during an interview at Future Energy Summit (FES) Argentina. RIGI is a federal framework designed to attract large-scale investments by providing tax, regulatory and financial incentives for strategic infrastructure and energy projects. The company’s rapid growth is also reflected in its organisational structure. Over the last two years, Solar DQD expanded its workforce from 130 to more than 1,000 employees, in line with the acceleration of solar PV deployment in Argentina. Garín Odriozola highlighted that one of the key challenges in executing projects across the country is the variability in local infrastructure and technical capabilities. “Conditions can change significantly just 50 kilometers apart — in terms of available machinery, logistics and local technical know-how. The challenge is to deliver the same level of service across the entire country,” he explained. Solar DQD has consolidated its position through the construction of several large-scale solar plants. One of its most significant ongoing projects is El Quemado, a 305 MW solar PV plant being developed by YPF Luz, the power generation subsidiary of Argentina’s state-controlled energy company YPF. The project is currently the largest solar plant under construction in the country and the first renewable project approved under the RIGI investment framework. Located in Mendoza province, the project has already reached 60% construction progress, with 200 MW of installed capacity. The project includes: Another key project in Solar DQD’s portfolio is Pampa del Infierno, a 150 MWp solar PV plant located in the northern province of Chaco. Considered the third-largest solar park in Argentina, the facility was connected to the grid in just eight months, after installing more than 220,000 solar panels and deploying a workforce of 350 field workers. Beyond its EPC business, Solar DQD has also begun developing its own renewable generation portfolio under the brand DQD Energy. During 2025, the company launched operations of its first proprietary solar project, a 25 MW plant located in Chaco province. In parallel, the company: Argentina’s MATER market allows private companies to sign power purchase agreements (PPAs) directly with renewable energy generators, enabling corporate procurement of clean electricity. “What led us to move from being solely an EPC contractor to becoming a generator happened naturally,” Garín Odriozola explained. “As we became more efficient and effective in building solar parks, we realised there was a major opportunity. Previously, the cost of the main component represented a much larger share of CAPEX, but today an EPC with strong execution capabilities can enter the energy business competitively — and we decided to seize that opportunity.” The company is now pursuing an ambitious growth plan. “We are currently in the process of doubling the size of the company. Our goal in Argentina is to double our operational scale, both in construction and energy generation,” he added. Solar DQD’s strategy also includes expanding into new Latin American markets, with the goal of replicating its integrated model of renewable EPC services and power generation outside Argentina. The company has already started its international activity with projects in Uruguay and is currently evaluating opportunities primarily in: According to Garín Odriozola, Peru represents one of the most promising markets, where solar plants between 250 MW and 400 MW are being considered. “Our goal is to enter the region with both the EPC business and renewable generation. We want to land in new markets with the complete model,” he concluded during a panel discussion at Future Energy Summit Argentina 2026. by Strategic Energy Keep reading The National Electric Coordinator has opened an international tender to build the Punilla and Quinchamalí substations, key projects to strengthen grid reliability in Chile’s Ñuble region with an estimated investment of USD 28.6 million. by Strategic Energy Keep reading The battery energy storage system (BESS), located in northern Chile, has 46 MW of installed capacity and represents an investment of approximately US$64 million. by Strategic Energy Keep reading After adding seven new plants in 2025, the tech giant strengthens Spain as its second-largest renewable investment market worldwide, supporting its goal of net-zero carbon emissions by 2040. by Strategic Energy Keep reading The National Electric Coordinator has opened an international tender to build the Punilla and Quinchamalí substations, key projects to strengthen grid reliability in Chile’s Ñuble region with an estimated investment of USD 28.6 million. by Strategic Energy Keep reading The battery energy storage system (BESS), located in northern Chile, has 46 MW of installed capacity and represents an investment of approximately US$64 million. by Strategic Energy Keep reading After adding seven new plants in 2025, the tech giant strengthens Spain as its second-largest renewable investment market worldwide, supporting its goal of net-zero carbon emissions by 2040. A leading media group in digital marketing, strategic communication, and consultancy specialized in renewable energy and zero-emission mobility, with a presence in Latin America and Europe. We focus on helping companies position their brand in key markets, connecting with the main decision-makers in the energy transition.
| Source: JackeryJackery FREMONT, Calif., March 25, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Spring is here and so are the plans that come with it. From finally tackling the driveway to packing for that long-awaited camping trip or simply hitting the road, it’s go time. The only question: is your power ready to keep up? Available now through March 31, Jackery is holding its biggest spring sale yet making sure it is – unlocking the lowest prices the brand has ever offered – for a limited time only.
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Seven Days. Historic Prices. The Big Spring Sale runs March 25-31, seven days, four flagships, the best prices Jackery has ever offered. Jackery’s long-lasting solar generators keep delivering well beyond the sale. Power forward. Make this spring the one you’ve been waiting for. Shop March 25–31 at Jackery.com, Jackery’s Amazon Storefront, and Jackery’s TikTok Shop.
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