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KAIST and Korea University achieve 27% efficiency in hybrid perovskite–organic polymer solar cell
A 27%-class solar cell with top power conversion efficiency (PCE) that withstands high-temperature and high-humidity environments has been developed, even without an encapsulation layer, a sealing protective layer that increases manufacturing cost and weight. Test results suggest that it can secure long-term stability for more than four years at room temperature.
The National Research Foundation of Korea announced on the 19th that a team led by Professor Jeong Yong Lee at KAIST, in collaboration with a Korea University research team, has developed a perovskite and organic polymer hybrid solar cell that achieves both high efficiency and high stability without encapsulation. The findings were published on the 18th (local time) in the international journal 'Nature Energy'.
Perovskite is considered a next-generation solar cell material that efficiently converts light into electricity and is lightweight, but it is vulnerable to moisture and heat, making long-term stable operation difficult. This is why an encapsulation layer, a protective layer that blocks external moisture ingress, is required. However, encapsulation increases processing costs and acts as an obstacle to realizing lightweight and flexible solar cells.
Hybrid solar cells combined with organic semiconductors can block moisture, but if the energy levels between the perovskite and the organic semiconductor layers do not align, holes accumulate in certain regions, degrading stability and efficiency. A hole is the vacancy left by an electron and transports positive charge (+) within a semiconductor.
The research team used organic polymers with different energy levels to design a cascaded energy level structure. By aligning the energy flow so that holes move stepwise and smoothly, they secured both efficiency and stability.
The solar cell applying the team's technology achieved a champion efficiency of 27.18% and a certified efficiency of 26.71%. Even after operating for 3,000 hours at 85℃ and 85% relative humidity, it maintained more than 95% of its initial efficiency. Simulation results showed that at room temperature of 25℃ it would take 35,590 hours for the efficiency to drop to 80% of its initial value, indicating that the device can operate stably for about four years without encapsulation.
Professor Lee stated, "We overcame the trade-off between efficiency and stability in perovskite solar cells through a new electronic structure design."
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– doi.org/10.1038/s41560-026-02071-0
