DEPARTMENT FOR SCIENCE, INNOVATION AND TECHNOLOGY

SOLACE: UK?Africa Solar Alliance on Clean Energy: Single-Substrate, Solution-Processed All-Perovskite Tandem Cells

Project disclaimer

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Description

Affordable, reliable clean energy is essential for development, yet many in Kenya, Rwanda and Tanzania still face limited or costly electricity. Solar can help, but next generation devices must be efficient, low cost, stable in hot, humid climates and, ideally, locally manufacturable so more of the value chain remains in Africa. SOLACE is a UK?Africa partnership to develop low cost, high efficiency all perovskite tandem solar cells and build the skills to use them. Perovskites can be made from inks at low temperature, cutting manufacturing cost. Stacking two PSCs into a single tandem device can capture more energy than a single cell. SOLACE brings together laboratories in the UK and Africa to co-develop these tandems while building a local ecosystem and talent pipeline of skilled practitioners to develop them. All-perovskite tandems are feasible, but performance and durability are still limited by interface losses, defects and contact layers, and by the challenge of coating both sub-cells sequentially on one substrate without dissolving the layer underneath. Advancing fundamental understanding of interface and defect losses will guide materials design and layer sequencing that improve durability under hot, humid conditions. We will achieve this through complimentary expertise combining modelling and advanced characterisation, running in a feedback loop with materials development to drive improvements. SOLACE will deliver robust, fully solution processed tandems on a single substrate, establish clear design rules linking materials, interfaces and thickness to efficiency and stability, release open standard operating procedures, analysis tools and well documented datasets so others can reproduce the results, and build long term capability through training schools, a UNESCO Campus Africa bootcamp and reciprocal exchanges, with equitable authorship and clear gender targets. Four linked work packages run in a feedback loop spanning materials and devices (WP1), modelling (WP2), advanced photophysics (WP3), and capacity and outreach (WP4). Through these work packages, we will deliver: 1. Design rules with quantitative band alignment, interface recombination kinetics, mobility lifetime products and contact resistance, with model and experiment in agreement. 2. Devices that are reproducible, fully solution processed single substrate tandems with >15% efficiency and verified stability under heat and humidity and optimised interlayers and defect control. 3. Tools and data, including open SOPs, analysis notebooks and FAIR datasets to enable independent replication. 4. Capacity and equity through exchanges and training with at least 40 percent women, documented skills transfer and equitable authorship and IP frameworks. The benefits are practical and near term. Policymakers gain evidence-based guidance on solar options suited to equatorial climates, supporting affordable clean energy plans. Industry and utilities gain design rules and stability criteria that can improve performance and lifetime of next generation solar and inform procurement. The research community gains open tools and data that speed discovery and enable fair comparisons. Most importantly, partner countries gain durable capability in fabrication, modelling and diagnostics, reducing reliance on imported expertise, supporting future manufacturing readiness and helping to retain more of the value chain within Africa. In short, SOLACE couples cutting edge solar research with practical training and open infrastructure to deliver both the knowledge and the local capacity needed to advance affordable, high efficiency all perovskite tandem solar for Africa.

Objectives

Affordable, reliable clean energy is essential for development, yet many in Kenya, Rwanda and Tanzania still face limited or costly electricity. Solar can help, but next generation devices must be efficient, low cost, stable in hot, humid climates and, ideally, locally manufacturable so more of the value chain remains in Africa. SOLACE is a UK?Africa partnership to develop low cost, high efficiency all perovskite tandem solar cells and build the skills to use them. Perovskites can be made from inks at low temperature, cutting manufacturing cost. Stacking two PSCs into a single tandem device can capture more energy than a single cell. SOLACE brings together laboratories in the UK and Africa to co-develop these tandems while building a local ecosystem and talent pipeline of skilled practitioners to develop them. All-perovskite tandems are feasible, but performance and durability are still limited by interface losses, defects and contact layers, and by the challenge of coating both sub-cells sequentially on one substrate without dissolving the layer underneath. Advancing fundamental understanding of interface and defect losses will guide materials design and layer sequencing that improve durability under hot, humid conditions. We will achieve this through complimentary expertise combining modelling and advanced characterisation, running in a feedback loop with materials development to drive improvements. SOLACE will deliver robust, fully solution processed tandems on a single substrate, establish clear design rules linking materials, interfaces and thickness to efficiency and stability, release open standard operating procedures, analysis tools and well documented datasets so others can reproduce the results, and build long term capability through training schools, a UNESCO Campus Africa bootcamp and reciprocal exchanges, with equitable authorship and clear gender targets. Four linked work packages run in a feedback loop spanning materials and devices (WP1), modelling (WP2), advanced photophysics (WP3), and capacity and outreach (WP4). Through these work packages, we will deliver: 1. Design rules with quantitative band alignment, interface recombination kinetics, mobility lifetime products and contact resistance, with model and experiment in agreement. 2. Devices that are reproducible, fully solution processed single substrate tandems with >15% efficiency and verified stability under heat and humidity and optimised interlayers and defect control. 3. Tools and data, including open SOPs, analysis notebooks and FAIR datasets to enable independent replication. 4. Capacity and equity through exchanges and training with at least 40 percent women, documented skills transfer and equitable authorship and IP frameworks. The benefits are practical and near term. Policymakers gain evidence-based guidance on solar options suited to equatorial climates, supporting affordable clean energy plans. Industry and utilities gain design rules and stability criteria that can improve performance and lifetime of next generation solar and inform procurement. The research community gains open tools and data that speed discovery and enable fair comparisons. Most importantly, partner countries gain durable capability in fabrication, modelling and diagnostics, reducing reliance on imported expertise, supporting future manufacturing readiness and helping to retain more of the value chain within Africa. In short, SOLACE couples cutting edge solar research with practical training and open infrastructure to deliver both the knowledge and the local capacity needed to advance affordable, high efficiency all perovskite tandem solar for Africa.

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Location

The country, countries or regions that benefit from this Programme.

Eastern Africa, regional