Roll2Roll Perovskite Factory

Today, the majority of solar (photovoltaic, PV) panels are produced outside of Europe, and made of crystalline silicon wafers protected by a sheet of glass. They are challenging to integrate in the environment due to their fixed sizes, heavy weight, and rigid structure. Their installation is limited to the places that can support the glass panels. While the panels may be inexpensive, their production outside Europe does not support growth of the European economy.

TNO has partnered with SolarNL and Solliance to change the status quo. Instead of attempting to develop and produce regular silicon-based solar panels, the team has developed a better, more flexible solution that can be produced in Europe. Using perovskite deposited on flexible substrates in a roll2roll process, solar panels can be produced faster, at lower cost, and locally. With funding from the Province of North Brabant and the National Growth Fund, the blueprint and R&D pilot line for the world’s first roll2roll perovskite factory are now available.

Perovskite panels produce as much electricity as silicon panels but have a much lower carbon footprint to produce. It can be deposited roll2roll on thin and flexible substrates, at high speed and scale, so the cost/quantity ratio for the same output is significantly lower. PV technology made from perovskite is easy and affordable to integrate, requires less labour, and has been proven to be a viable competitor at system level. Most importantly, the construction of the world’s first perovskite factory in the Netherlands will offer new perspectives for our current partners and NewCos by generating new value chains, and a blueprint for construction of additional factories throughout Europe.

The flexible nature of perovskite PV technology opens new doors for its integration into the European infrastructure. Roofing tiles and shingles can have the technology integrated, so that historic European architecture can maintain its aesthetic appeal. In fact, the technology can be integrated into any new application without protection by glass panels. What’s more, local production of the technology will drive higher competitiveness of the European industry and reduce reliance on non-European suppliers.

Today, in preparation for the factory’s construction, TNO, SolarNL, and Solliance are working with partners across the entire value chain to build this new and revolutionary industry. While the technology has been proven in small-scale experiments, the team is working to optimise processing technologies to produce perovskite solar cells at larger scales, and searching for optimal packaging solutions to ensure high product stability. The team is eager to partner with organisations that can help accelerate the scaling of the technology, including design and development of the manufacturing technology.

In addition to defining its own role in the future Roll2Roll Perovskite Factory, TNO is coordinating the search for European partners active in the field of solar panel production to explore the potential of the technology and develop use cases for the flexible, easy-to-integrate PV systems. In this way, when construction of the factory begins in 2027, specific lines of production and development will already be established.

We encourage equipment developers, material suppliers, quality control tooling developers, perovskite foil processors, and flexible PV producers to get in touch to explore the possibilities for future collaboration.