Nature study sets common stability test for perovskite solar cells across 20 labs

An international team led by the U.S. National Renewable Energy Laboratory published a unified stability testing protocol and an open interlaboratory dataset for perovskite solar cells in Nature on Wednesday. The study spans 20 research sites and proposes a method to translate accelerated tests into outdoor lifetime forecasts, a step aimed at easing bankability hurdles for perovskite and tandem modules.

The work lands as several manufacturers prepare pilot and early production of perovskite silicon tandems in 2026, and as project finance demands comparable lifetime data. Insurers and rating agencies have flagged inconsistent test methods as a barrier to warranties on new perovskite products.

What the study did

The consortium, coordinated by Joseph J. Berry at NREL, distributed matched devices and reference materials to participating labs, including the University of Oxford, EPFL, and Helmholtz Zentrum Berlin. Sites followed a common protocol that extends existing ISOS procedures with tighter control of temperature, humidity, spectrum, and illumination intensity, along with agreed reporting formats.

Teams ran light soaking, thermal cycling, and damp heat sequences, then cross checked results with calibrated reference cells and round robin measurements. The authors trained a model on the pooled dataset to map accelerated stress outcomes to predicted performance loss under four representative outdoor climates. Henry J. Snaith at Oxford, Michael Grätzel at EPFL, and Steve Albrecht at HZB are senior co authors.

What it proves and what it does not

The study shows that labs following the protocol can reproduce degradation rates within defined uncertainty bands, and that the climate mapping predicts field performance within stated error bars for the tested device classes. It does not prove a 25 year lifetime for commercial perovskite modules. It also does not replace full module and encapsulation testing to IEC standards.

The paper emphasizes that the protocol targets cell and mini module stages. The authors recommend extending the approach to large area tandem modules and to encapsulation stacks that address ion migration and moisture ingress, issues that still drive many failures.

Why it matters for manufacturers

Common stress tests and open data can shorten qualification by giving suppliers and project developers a shared baseline for durability claims. The authors say the methods are suitable as input to ongoing IEC standardization and can support warranty modeling by manufacturers such as Oxford PV, Qcells, and LONGi that are evaluating tandem lines.

If adopted by certification bodies and financiers, the protocol could narrow the gap between laboratory efficiency results and the reliability evidence needed for utility scale procurement, which remains the main commercial hurdle for perovskite based photovoltaics.