A research team has produced a flexible perovskite-silicon tandem solar cell that converts 33.6% of sunlight into electricity, a certified record for bendable devices of this type. Published in Nature, the study details a cell that survives thousands of bend cycles and prolonged heat exposure without significant power loss. The result arrives alongside fresh government funding and parallel lab advances that together signal a rapid acceleration in next-generation solar technology.
Flexible Tandem Cell Hits 33.6% Efficiency
The core advance is a flexible device that stacks a perovskite layer on top of crystalline silicon, allowing both materials to harvest different parts of the solar spectrum simultaneously. That tandem architecture pushed certified power conversion efficiency to 33.6% in peer-reviewed testing, a figure that far exceeds the practical ceiling of conventional single-junction silicon panels, which typically top out near 22% to 24% in commercial products. For homeowners and utilities alike, higher efficiency per square meter means fewer panels to cover the same energy demand, which directly cuts installation costs and roof space requirements.
Durability numbers matter just as much as peak efficiency, because a cell that degrades quickly has no commercial future. The flexible tandem device retained 91% of its performance after 5,000 bend cycles, held a T80 lifetime exceeding 2,000 hours, and kept 90% efficiency after 1,000 hours of damp-heat stress. Those benchmarks suggest the cell could withstand real-world conditions on curved rooftops, vehicle surfaces, or portable electronics, where rigid glass panels simply cannot be used. The combination of record efficiency and mechanical resilience in a single device is what separates this result from earlier lab demonstrations that excelled on one metric but not both.
California Backs Commercialization With $4 Million Grant
Turning a lab record into a product people can buy requires independent testing and manufacturing scale, and that transition just received a financial push. Tandem PV, a company working on perovskite-silicon panels, was awarded a $4 million grant by the California Energy Commission to fund third-party validation and durability testing. The company reports a current panel efficiency of 28%, which it describes as 30% more powerful than average silicon. While 28% sits below the 33.6% lab record, it reflects the gap that always exists between a controlled research cell and a full-size manufactured panel, a gap that funded validation work is designed to close.
The grant specifically targets the trust deficit that slows adoption of any new energy technology. Utilities and large-scale buyers will not commit purchase orders based on a manufacturer’s own test data alone. Third-party certification from accredited labs provides the bankable performance guarantee that project financiers require before writing checks. By earmarking public money for exactly this step, California is compressing a timeline that has historically taken years for new solar chemistries. If Tandem PV’s panels clear independent testing at or near 28% efficiency with acceptable degradation rates, the company would hold a measurable edge over standard silicon in watts per dollar, a metric that drives procurement decisions across the solar industry.
Oxford and UC Research Widen the Technology Pipeline
The flexible tandem cell and the Tandem PV grant sit within a broader wave of perovskite-related research that has picked up speed over the past two years. In August 2024, scientists in the Oxford University Physics Department developed an approach aimed at generating more power from limited surface area, a strategy that could reduce the land footprint of solar farms. That work focused on squeezing higher output from smaller cells, an objective that aligns directly with the tandem efficiency gains now being reported. If panels produce a third more electricity per square meter, the acreage needed for a utility-scale installation drops proportionally, easing siting conflicts that have stalled projects in densely populated regions.
On the energy storage side, a separate line of research at the University of California tackled one of solar power’s persistent weaknesses: intermittency. Han’s research group achieved what the university described as a critical breakthrough in liquid solar batteries, producing a concept that stores solar energy chemically for later use. The latest publicly available update on that work was published in February 2026. Pairing higher-efficiency tandem cells with improved storage would address both sides of the solar equation at once: more electricity generated per panel and less of it wasted when the sun sets. No integrated prototype combining the two technologies has been publicly demonstrated, but the parallel progress in both fields narrows the engineering distance between them.
Indoor Solar and the Internet of Things
Not all next-generation solar advances target rooftops or power plants. A separate line of perovskite research has pushed indoor photovoltaic efficiency to 37.6% under low-light conditions through triple passivation reassembly and n-type to p-type modulation in wide-bandgap perovskites. These devices are tuned to the spectrum and intensity of indoor lighting rather than direct sunlight, making them ideal for powering sensors, smart tags, and other small electronics. Because many Internet of Things (IoT) devices draw only microwatts to milliwatts of power, high-efficiency indoor cells can keep them running indefinitely without disposable batteries, reducing maintenance costs and electronic waste.
Researchers are also looking at how flexible tandems and indoor perovskites might converge in future products. A recent analysis in the advanced materials literature highlighted the potential for perovskite-based films to be integrated directly into building materials, consumer electronics, and wearables. In that vision, the same core chemistry could appear on curved device casings, translucent window coatings, and low-light sensors, each optimized for its specific environment. The new 33.6% flexible tandem cell demonstrates that high performance no longer has to come at the expense of bendability, a key requirement for embedding power generation into everyday objects.
From Lab Records to Real-World Impact
Taken together, the record-setting flexible tandem cell, California’s commercialization grant, and the Oxford and UC breakthroughs point toward a more diversified solar landscape. Instead of a one-size-fits-all model dominated by rigid silicon rectangles, the field is moving toward a toolkit of specialized devices: ultra-efficient tandems for constrained rooftops, land-sparing modules for utility projects, chemically stored solar fuels for long-duration storage, and indoor cells for ubiquitous electronics. Each of these strands addresses a different bottleneck in the clean energy transition, from land use and grid reliability to the hidden maintenance burden of billions of small batteries.
Significant hurdles remain before these technologies reach mass deployment. Perovskites must demonstrate decade-scale stability in outdoor conditions, manufacturing lines need to scale without introducing defects, and regulators and financiers will demand extensive field data before treating tandem modules as bankable assets. Yet the pace and diversity of recent results suggest that the field is entering a phase of rapid iteration rather than isolated breakthroughs. As more projects move from lab benches to pilot lines under programs like California’s grant to Tandem PV, the question is shifting from whether perovskite-silicon tandems will matter to how quickly they can be engineered into the roofs, devices, and infrastructure that define everyday energy use.
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*This article was researched with the help of AI, with human editors creating the final content.
