...AND CHEAPER...:

While perovskites have the potential to reach high efficiencies (the world record for a perovskite-only cell is just over 25%), most of the best-performing perovskite cells today are tiny--less than an inch wide. 

Scaling up makes it more difficult to reach the potential efficiency limits. Right now, Saule's panels, which are a meter wide, reach around 10% efficiency. This is dwarfed by commercial silicon panels of similar sizes, which typically hit around 20% efficiency. 

Olga Malinkiewicz, Saule's founder and chief technology officer, says the company's goal was to get a perovskite-only solar cell out the door, and the lower efficiencies won't matter if the technology is cheap enough.

Saule is trying to go where silicon solar panels won't: to roofs that can't handle the weight of heavy glass-encased panels, or to more specialized applications, such as solar-powered blinds, which the company is currently testing.

While Saule is launching thin-film products for more niche applications, other companies hope to beat, or at least join, silicon at its own game. UK-based Oxford PV is incorporating perovskites into combination perovskite-silicon cells.

Tweet   @brothersjudd