Currently there is great attention on developing silicon-perovskite tandem solar cells to achieve higher efficiency devices. However, there are emerging areas which cannot be fulfilled by these materials, such as (i) uncrewed aerial vehicles which require lightweight cells, (ii) integration with building materials which require cells with some mechanical flexibility and semi-transparency, and (iii) incorporation with fabrics which require highly flexible and durable devices. As a result of the indirect bandgap nature of silicon, a few 100’s µm of material is required to absorb most of the solar spectrum whilst only about a hundredth of that is required in III-V materials such as GaAs or InP.

The three objectives of the project are:

1. Development of advanced, scalable and low-cost lift-off process to fabricate efficient, ultra-thin, flexible III-V semiconductor thin films. 
2. Development of flexible, efficient InGaAsP thin film solar cells with a bandgap of 0.9-1 eV, which incorporate carrier-selective passivating contacts.
3. Demonstration of cost-effective InGaAsP/perovskite tandem solar cells by integrating efficient thin-film III-V semiconductor solar cells with stable perovskite solar cells.

Physics, Material Science, Engineering