But while regions like East Asia, particularly China, and North America have started pilot production, Europe is lagging behind in the commercialisation of the technology.
The LAPERITIVO project aims to change this by focusing on the development of stable perovskite solar panels with a large surface area, targeting efficiencies of 22% for opaque and 20% for semi-transparent modules.
“The LAPERITIVO project stands out for its commitment to manufacturability and aims for a technology readiness level close to 7,” comments Yinghuan Kuang, senior researcher and project leader at Imec and the project coordinator.
“This emphasises the project’s desire to stimulate industrial applications. By leveraging Europe’s robust research base and aligning it with the goal of large-scale production, LAPERITIVO is poised to bridge the gap between laboratory research and commercial production.”
LAPERITIVO research activities
The main research activities of LAPERITIVO include the deposition of high-performance perovskite films and contact layers on a large substrate surface using industrially feasible techniques.
Indoor and outdoor field tests will be carried out to check the reliability of the modules. Safety, circularity and sustainability will be assessed to demonstrate products with minimal impact on the environment.
The project intends to explore innovative applications, including agrivoltaics, where semi-transparent modules can be integrated into agricultural environments, and four-terminal tandem perovskite-silicon solar panels for very high power, further diversifying the use cases for perovskite technology.
The design of a 200MW perovskite PV pilot line and 5GW production capacity in Europe also is set to be explored.
The LAPERITIVO project was formally launched in September at EnergyVille in northeastern Belgium, where Imec is based, and runs for 42 months to end on 28 February 2028.
The project consortium consists of 22 partners, including industrial companies and academic and research institutions.
The formal title of the LAPERITIVO project is ‘Large-area perovskite solar module manufacturing with high efficiency, long-term stability and low environmental impact’.
But the name also has another connotation. Says Tom Aernouts, R&D manager of the Thin-Film Photovoltaics Technology team at Imec: “Just as an Italian aperitivo brings people together for a convivial start to the evening, the LAPERITIVO project unites European innovators to usher in a new era of progress in solar energy.”
