UK project to advance organic and perovskite solar cells

The £6m EPSRC-funded project involves a team of researchers at Swansea University, Imperial College London and Oxford University plus input from 12 industry partners.

Swansea team on a roll with printed perovskite solar cells

Organic and perovskite solar cells are said to offer the advantages of being flexible, lightweight, cheap to produce, and they can be printed directly onto products during manufacture.

According to EPSRC, these properties make them suitable for 5G applications where an ultra-lightweight power source would be required for pseudo-satellites and high-altitude unmanned aerial vehicles; or to power sensors and computing devices in IoT applications. Similarly, they could be incorporated into the roofs, walls and windows of zero-carbon buildings and vehicles to generate power.

In a statement, EPSRC executive chair Prof. Dame Lynn Gladden said: “This exciting, multi-disciplinary project represents a step-change in the application of solar power and will help the UK to cut emissions and develop a climate-resilient, zero-carbon economy.

“The versatility and low cost of this emerging technology also demonstrates how innovative sustainable technologies will help us to improve the way we communicate through 5G and the Internet of Things.”