Photovoltaics research in Pavia
Giulia Grancini group

The mission

The challenge facing the PV industry is thus the development of a technology which combines high efficiency, cost-effectiveness through low-cost materials and less energy-intensive production processes, and long-term stability at reduced enviromental impact. 

Our group focuses on the development of Hybrid Perovskite Solar Cells. With impressive power conversion efficiency (PCE) > 25% they are climbing over the existing solar technologies and are widely recognized as one of the most exciting fields of research of our time. However, despite the full potential of this technology and the big excitement that came along, a big barrier hampers their commercialization: the poor device stability under operative conditions.

The mission of the group is to solve this challenge enabling the launch of this technology in the near future market. The innovative concept of the team is to solve the stability and toxicity issues developing multi-dimensional hybrid interfaces as lego-bricks for  new efficient, stable, environmentally-friendly solar technology. A synergistic effect resulting from different dimensionalities combined together will lead to interfaces with new physical properties and new functionalities that can be manipulated “ad hoc”. The derived multidisciplinary approach combines the design of new advanced materials (including non-toxic), cutting-edge photophysical investigations, and innovative device concepts (i.e functionalized molecules as lead trapping layers) that will enable a big jump in material science, fundamental physico-chemical understanding and technological innovation.