Innovation Signal 67 (2026) | 19 October 2026
High-performance tandem solar cells are becoming easier to manufacture under practical conditions
Short note, about 5 minutes to read.
What happened
Perovskite-silicon tandem solar cells can convert more sunlight into electricity than conventional silicon solar cells alone. But some of their highest efficiencies have depended on laboratory manufacturing conditions that are difficult to reproduce at larger scale.
That is beginning to change.
High laboratory performance → scalable coating → high performance under more practical manufacturing conditions
Researchers led by Nanjing University produced perovskite-silicon tandem cells using a scalable coating process in ordinary air rather than tightly controlled laboratory conditions. The cells reached a certified efficiency of 33.0%.
Independently, researchers led by KAUST and Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin demonstrated perovskite-silicon tandem cells made using blade coating, a process more compatible with larger-scale manufacture than the spin coating commonly used in laboratory research. Their cells reached an independently certified efficiency of 31.2%.
Together, the results show that very high tandem-cell performance is beginning to survive the move towards more practical and scalable manufacturing methods.
Why this matters
If tandem solar cells can eventually retain their higher efficiency through practical manufacturing and deployment, they could generate more electricity from the same roof, site or solar-farm area.
That could make limited space more productive and allow more solar power to be generated without simply adding more panels or using more land.
Who should care
- Solar-cell and module manufacturers
- Solar-energy companies
- Photovoltaic materials and equipment companies
- Semiconductor and advanced manufacturing companies
- Energy technology and research organisations
- Investors tracking emerging energy technologies
What could change over the next 2 to 3 years
The next step will be showing that these manufacturing methods can produce larger tandem cells and modules consistently without giving up much of their efficiency.
Watch for larger-area cells and modules, more continuous production processes and evidence that high performance can be maintained across repeated manufacturing runs.
What might block this
Manufacturing tandem solar cells at larger scale will require more than changing how their layers are deposited.
Larger cells can be harder to produce uniformly, small defects can reduce performance and manufacturing costs will also matter.
The recent results therefore do not yet show that high-efficiency tandem cells can be manufactured commercially at scale.
Why I am sharing this
The value of higher solar efficiency becomes much easier to see when it means getting more electricity from space that is already available.
If tandem solar can carry its laboratory advantage into practical use, the same solar footprint could ultimately do more.
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Archive Tags
Tandem Solar · Perovskite-Silicon · Solar Manufacturing · Photovoltaics · Scalable Coating