Perovskites: the future of PV? - The smarter-E Podcast
Perovskites: The Race for the Future of PV?
The smarter E Podcast Episode 258 | 25 June 2026 | Language: English
This episode, which was recorded in June 2026 at the “Tandem PV Workshop” in Berlin, explores one of the most exciting areas of research in solar technology: perovskite-based tandem photovoltaics. In this discussion, Rutger Schlatmann and Angelika Harter explain why perovskites could enable the next major step towards higher solar efficiency – and what still needs to happen before the technology reaches commercial mass production.
The first part addresses the question of why silicon-perovskite tandem solar cells are of such interest to researchers and industry. Rutger Schlatmann explains how conventional silicon technology is reaching its physical efficiency limits and why applying a perovskite layer to silicon opens up a path to significantly higher output.
In the second half of the episode, Angelika Harter discusses the transition from record-breaking laboratory results to commercially viable solar products. She reports on insights from the ‘Tandem PV Workshop’ recently held in Berlin, where the industry’s focus is increasingly shifting from simply achieving higher efficiencies towards understanding and improving stability, scalability and reproducibility.
In addition, journalist Jonathan Gifford and the two HZB colleagues discuss new possibilities for perovskite technologies beyond conventional solar modules – including flexible PV, indoor applications and space technologies – and explore why the next five years could be crucial for bringing the first generation of commercial perovskite products to market.
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