Professor Anita Ho-Baillie, the John Hooke Chair of Nanoscience at the University of Sydney Nano Institute, has been awarded $2.5 million to fund her solar energy research.

Awarded by the Australian Renewable Energy Agency, the funds will support two multi-institutional research projects with Professor Ho-Baillie as lead chief investigator. These projects will improve the energy-conversion efficiencies and durability of emerging silicon-perovskite photovoltaic cell technologies, which are crystal structures of mineral compounds. The metal halide version is particularly useful for solar-cell applications.

“Perovskite solar cells are really hitting their stride now,” Professor Ho-Baillie said. “Apart from being cheap and easy to produce, these solar cells can be combined with the incumbent silicon technology to boost efficiency. Now we want to make sure these cells are able to last a long time to make our technology truly cost effective.” Find out more here.