Australia funds lab-stage path to a 500 MW tandem solar factory

In Brisbane’s outer suburbs, a planned solar-panel facility has an initial number attached to it: 500 MW of manufacturing capacity. Brisbane-based Unison Solar is establishing the site while joining researchers from the University of Sydney and Singapore’s Nanyang Technological University to move perovskite-silicon tandem modules toward commercial production.

ARENA announced it would provide AUD 7.25 million toward a AUD 19.5 million effort led by the University of Sydney. The funding is to be delivered over five years, starting in 2027. Unison says it will use the commercialisation stage to examine manufacturing costs, supply chains, customer needs and the route to pilot production.

The technical bet is to stack perovskite — a class of materials made by synthesising metal with halogens — on top of silicon. That gives the cell two semiconducting layers instead of one. Silicon’s conversion rate currently peaks at about 25%, the researchers say, while a silicon-perovskite tandem could theoretically reach about 40%. The University of Sydney team has already reported 30% efficient tandems on small and large areas, as well as cells passing industry-standard tests against thermal extremes and moisture.

And then? For Australian solar manufacturers, the immediate change is not a product on sale but a funded path from laboratory results to a production decision. If the next tests hold up, Unison will have a local technology platform to assess for pilot production; if they do not, the central obstacle will remain clear. Perovskite materials can break down under light, heat, moisture and mechanical stress, and the researchers still need to test resistance to ultraviolet light and mechanical stresses.

The work is therefore still at the laboratory stage, not serial production. Its target is to preserve the cells’ conversion rate over the life expectancy of solar panels, while Unison ultimately aims for gigawatt-scale advanced-solar manufacturing in Australia. The project is one of 20 research and development initiatives supported through ARENA’s $105.6 million funding round.