Perovskite photovoltaics offer compelling efficiency and cost advantages over conventional silicon, yet their path to commercialisation hinges on one unresolved question: how stable are they under real operating conditions? Unlike silicon, perovskite modules exhibit complex degradation behaviour driven by ion migration, metastability effects, and sensitivity to combined thermal and UV stress, phenomena that standard IEC qualification tests were never designed to capture.
You will join a research team working on an ACAP-funded project that is establishing Australia's first independent outdoor testing program for commercial perovskite modules, with modules supplied by leading manufacturers globally. Your work will contribute directly to understanding how these modules perform and degrade under Australian environmental conditions.
Depending on your background and interests, tasks may include outdoor module characterisation (current-voltage measurements, photoluminescence imaging, maximum power point tracking), environmental data correlation and analysis using Python, and contributing to accelerated indoor testing protocols designed to replicate field degradation mechanisms. You will gain exposure to real research data from a live, industry-partnered program and work alongside a team with deep expertise in PV reliability and characterisation.
School
Photovoltaic and Renewable Energy Engineering
Research Area
Photovoltaics | Perovskite solar cells | Module reliability | Outdoor testing | Accelerated testing
Suitable for recognition of Work Integrated Learning (industrial training)?
No
- Research environment
- Expected outcomes
- Supervisory team
- Reference material/links
You will be embedded in an active research group working on an ACAP-funded project in collaboration with world-leading perovskite manufacturers. The team includes academic staff, postdocs, and PhD students with expertise spanning outdoor testing, advanced characterisation, and accelerated ageing. You will have access to UNSW's outdoor PV test facility and characterisation lab, and will participate in regular group meetings and progress discussions.
- You will develop practical skills in PV module characterisation and performance analysis
- Gain familiarity with perovskite-specific degradation mechanisms
- Contribute to a live dataset with real industry relevance
- The experience is well suited to students considering postgraduate research or a career in the solar industry
- Strong contributions may support co-authorship on future publications
- US PACT program (closest international equivalent): https://pvpact.sandia.gov/
- Seasonality in Perovskite Solar Cells: Insights from 4 Years of Outdoor Data. Advanced Energy Materials, 15(35), 2501906.
- Outdoor Measurements of Perovskite Modules, Progress in Photovoltaics: Research and Applications (2026): 114, https://doi.org/10.1002/pip.70073.