Tech
Research drives commercialization of energy-efficient solar cell technology toward 40% efficiency milestone
Third-generation solar cell technology is advancing rapidly. An engineering research team at The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU) has achieved a breakthrough in the field of perovskite/silicon tandem solar cells (TSCs), focusing on addressing challenges that include improving efficiency, stability and scalability.
The team has conducted a comprehensive analysis of TSC performance and provided strategic recommendations, which aim to raise the energy conversion efficiency of this new type of solar cell from the current maximum of approximately 34% to about 40%.
The team hopes to accelerate the commercialization of perovskite/silicon TSCs through industry-academia-research collaboration, while aligning with the nation’s strategic plan of carbon peaking and neutrality and promoting the development of innovative technologies such as artificial intelligence through renewable energy.
The research team comprises leading scholars including Prof. Li Gang, Chair Professor of Energy Conversion Technology and Sir Sze-yuen Chung Endowed Professor in Renewable Energy, and Prof. Yang Guang, Assistant Professor, both of the PolyU Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering.
They conducted a critical review of the challenges and future prospects of perovskite/silicon TSCs titled “Towards efficient, scalable and stable perovskite/silicon tandem solar cells,” which has been published in the journal Nature Photonics.
Tackling stability and manufacturing challenges
“While lab-scale devices have shown impressive efficiency advancement, further efforts are needed to improve their reliability, including minimizing efficiency losses from small-area devices to large-area modules,” said Prof. Gang. “Special focus should also be given to ensuring that the manufacturability of materials and methods aligns with industrial standards.”
To address these issues, Prof. Guang and the team highlighted several critical technical challenges. First, the intrinsic instability of perovskite materials under environmental stresses such as moisture, oxygen, ultraviolet light and thermal fluctuations remains a major challenge. Second, translating tandem devices to commercial-scale modules requires overcoming hurdles related to uniformity, defect control and large-area fabrication.
Although preliminary outdoor testing of perovskite/silicon TSCs has been conducted, certified data on their long-term reliability remain scarce. To better assess the actual lifetime and commercial potential of these cells, the researchers recommend rigorous accelerated stability testing based on standardized procedures outlined by the International Electrotechnical Commission.
Additionally, while perovskite raw materials are relatively low-cost, the use of rare elements and heavy metal lead in most cell designs raises significant environmental and regulatory concerns. The research therefore advocates for the development of sustainable alternatives, along with efficient recycling or lead sequestration strategies to enable viable commercialization.
Promoting industry-academia-research collaboration
The PolyU team advocates for industry-academia-research collaboration through a multidisciplinary approach that integrates material science, device engineering and economic modeling to advance this promising photovoltaic technology. “The development of efficient and reliable perovskite/silicon TSCs must address these remaining scientific challenges to achieve lower levelized electricity costs,” said Prof. Guang.
“The team hopes this research will facilitate the transition of the technology from laboratory studies to commercial fabrication, while closely aligning with the nation’s strategic plan of carbon peaking and neutrality. By providing a stable supply of high-efficiency renewable energy, we aim to deliver green and reliable power support for high-energy-consuming industries such as artificial intelligence, thereby helping to achieve a low-carbon transformation of the energy structure.”
More information:
Guang Yang et al, Towards efficient, scalable and stable perovskite/silicon tandem solar cells, Nature Photonics (2025). DOI: 10.1038/s41566-025-01732-y
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Tech
The Best Babbel Promo Codes and Deals for April 2026
I’ve been trying to become fluent in Spanish for the last decade. After spending most of my adult life surrounded by multilinguals, I often feel like I’m playing an impossible game of catch-up. Like everyone else, I’ve tried to become regimented with practicing on an in-phone app like Duolingo, which attempts to ‘game-ify’ language learning, but mostly ends up with a sad and sick-looking green bird icon guilting me to practice every time I open up my phone.
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Tech
Robotaxi Outage in China Leaves Passengers Stranded on Highways
An unknown technical problem caused a number of robotaxis owned by the Chinese tech giant Baidu to freeze on Tuesday in the middle of traffic, trapping some passengers in the vehicles for more than an hour.
In Wuhan, a city in central China where Baidu has deployed hundreds of its Apollo Go self-driving taxis, people on Chinese social media reported witnessing the cars suddenly malfunction and stop operating. Photos and videos shared online show the Baidu cars halted on busy highways, often in the fast lane.
A college student in Wuhan tells WIRED that she was stuck in a Baidu robotaxi with two friends for about 90 minutes on Tuesday. (She asked to be only identified with her last name, He, to protect her privacy.) The student says the car malfunctioned and stopped four or five times during the trip before it eventually parked in front of an intersection in eastern Wuhan. Luckily, it was not a busy road, and the group was not in immediate danger. The screen display in the car asked the passengers to remain in the car with seatbelt on and wait for a company representative to come “in five minutes,” according to a photo He shared with WIRED.
He says it took about 30 minutes to reach a Baidu customer representative on the phone. “They kept saying it would be reported to their superior. But they didn’t explain what caused [the outage] or let us know how long we needed to wait for the staff to come,” He says. But no one ever came, and after another hour of waiting, the three passengers decided to just get out and go home by themselves (the doors weren’t locked).
On Chinese social media, other passengers also complained about being unable to reach Baidu’s customer support. “I tried every way I could think of to call for help using the options the app showed, but the phone line wouldn’t go through, and when I pressed the SOS button it told me it was unavailable. So then what exactly is the SOS for?” wrote one person in a post on RedNote alongside a video showing the button not working. She said she had to force the door to open and get out of the car as traffic halted to a complete stop behind her robotaxi. “Apollo Go, you really owe me an apology,” she wrote.
Baidu didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment. Local police in Wuhan issued a statement around midnight in China that said the situation was “likely caused by a system malfunction,” but the incident is still under investigation. No one was injured and all passengers have exited the vehicles, the police added. It’s unclear how many of Baidu’s robotaxis may have been impacted.
One dash cam recording posted to RedNote shows a car passing 16 Apollo Go vehicles parked on the road in the span of 90 minutes. On several occasions, the video shows the driver narrowly avoiding hitting the robotaxis by braking or changing lanes at the last minute.
Others were apparently not as fortunate. In another RedNote post, a man claimed he crashed into one of the malfunctioning Baidu vehicles. The man wrote in the caption that he was driving over 40 mph on a highway when the car in front of him suddenly changed lanes to avoid the stopped robotaxi. He couldn’t react fast enough and ended up running into the self-driving car. Photos of the man’s orange SUV being towed away show that the car’s front-right fender was completely torn off, and other parts appeared to have sustained major damage.
Tech
Our Favorite Affordable Air Purifier Is Temporarily Even Cheaper
Tired of the stale, fetid air looming over your apartment like a cloud? Check out the Coway Airmega Mighty, an already wallet-friendly home air purifier that’s even cheaper right now as part of the Amazon Big Spring Sale. It’s currently marked down to just $154, a $76 discount from its typical price, but you’ll want to move quickly if you’re interested, as the deal is only available for a limited time.
Despite its low price tag and squat stature, the Airmega Mighty is capable of cleaning a substantial amount of space. At full bore, it can handle a 361-square-foot space, although you’ll get the best performance, and save your ears, if you’re closer to a 200-square-foot room. If you don’t want it running constantly, there are built-in timers to automatically shut off after 1, 4, or 8 hours, or you can use Eco Mode, which will run until the Might doesn’t sense any dirty air for half an hour.
That’s right, the Airmega Mighty has a built-in air quality sensor, and it reflects the current state of the air quality using a colored light with three levels. It uses those readings to automatically adjust the fan speed and timing settings on the fly, as well as giving you a peak into how bad the air you’re breathing right now is for you. While it lacks integration with smart home setups like Google Home, it makes up for it by handling all of its own business without Wi-Fi or extra apps on your phone.
While the Coway Airmega Mighty is available in three colors, only the black and silver model is currently discounted, so you’ll have to pay full price if it doesn’t match your living room’s color scheme. We’ve put in the work testing every air purifier we could get our hands on, so make sure to check out the full guide if you’re trying to clean up your space. The Coway is discounted as part of Amazon’s Big Spring Sale, and we’ve got the best deals from products we’ve tested gathered in one place if you want to save some bucks.
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