Power Roll and Swansea University Launch Innovate UK Project to Advance Perovskite Solar Innovation

Durham, United Kingdom - Power Roll Ltd, the leading technology disruptor in the flexible PV market and based in the Northeast of England, is partnering with Swansea University on a collaborative project funded by Innovate UK to appraise novel characterisation techniques for perovskite solar cells (PSCs).

The initiative, titled “AI-Enhanced Perovskite Manufacturing using Inline Metrology, Performance Assessment and Characterisation Techniques (AI-IMPACT)”, was awarded under the recent Developing Semiconductor Hardware for Critical Technologies call.

AI-IMPACT aims to address major capability gaps in inline and end-of-line testing for PSCs at scale and high throughput. Without these advancements, PSC 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.

Power Roll Ltd is pioneering a new lightweight, flexible, perovskite solar film with a unique, patented partial back-contacted groove architecture. Power Roll’s solar film is not only disruptive in its architecture but also in its fabrication, being manufactured fully roll-to-roll. It has several unique selling points, such as bifacial, high angular response and low shading sensitivity. Throughout the project, they will supply solar film samples to support evaluation of new characterisation methods.

Swansea University’s SPECIFIC Innovation and Knowledge Centre has been adopting technologies that reduce carbon emissions, creating buildings that can generate, store and release their own heat and electricity from solar energy. Swansea University’s PV group is a global pioneer in roll-to-roll (R2R) perovskite solar cell manufacturing, having developed the world’s first fully printable R2R perovskite device. In AI Impact, they will undertake a series of reviews on performance standards, metrology techniques, equipment suppliers, routes to characterise large scale devices and AI pertaining to monitoring during manufacture.

The National Physical Laboratory, the UK’s leading facility for independent characterisation of photovoltaic devices, will support the development of end-of-line characterisation tool prototypes, leveraging expertise in both industry standards and characterisation techniques for optoelectronic devices. 

Dr. Dave Barwick, Technical Manager at Power Roll Ltd said

“This project will afford vital support for Power Roll as we work towards achieving our ambitious technology development targets, validating and accrediting a commercial product, and finalising plans for the first gigawatt-scale scale manufacturing plant in the UK – an achievement that will position the country at the forefront of next-generation solar technology.”

Professor Trystan Watson, Swansea University added “Quality control and metrology in R2R manufacturing of perovskite devices are becoming increasingly vital to accelerate commercialization and enable the successful market introduction of this transformative technology”