PEPPERONI partners reporting from EU PVSEC 2025
The 42nd European Photovoltaic Solar Energy Conference and Exhibition (EU PVSEC) concluded on 26 September 2025 at the BEC Bilbao Exhibition Centre, drawing over 1,600 participants from 61 countries. With more than 1,000 scientific presentations, the event once again affirmed its reputation as the leading global platform for photovoltaic (PV) research and innovation.
This year’s programme covered the full spectrum of the PV value chain, from fundamental science to system-level solutions. Central themes included sustainability, circularity, new manufacturing approaches, and perovskite/silicon tandem technologies, with many contributions addressing stability, durability and pathways to commercialisation.
PEPPERONI contributions
- World-record tandem cell results: Fabian Fertig, PEPPERONI’s technology development coordinator from Qcells, delivered a plenary talk on “World-Record Industrial Tandem Solar Cells on M10 Wafer Size.” He presented a record-breaking large-area (M10) pilot-scale perovskite/silicon tandem cell achieving 28.6% efficiency, demonstrating the project’s progress towards industrial-scale implementation.
- Insights from perovskite testing: Helmholtz Zentrum Berlin (HZB) shared two major contributions: “Spatially Non-Uniform Degradation in Perovskite Solar Cells after Indoor and Outdoor Ageing” and “Seasonality in Single-Junction Perovskite Solar Cells: Insights from 4 Years of Outdoor Data.” These studies underline the importance of comprehensive testing to ensure performance in real-world conditions.
- Industry engagement and networking: PEPPERONI joined forces with other EU-funded projects from the perovskite network, including DIAMOND, LAPERITIVO, LUMINOSITY, NEXUS, PEARL, SuPerTandem, TESTARE, TRIUMPH, VALHALLA and VIPERLAB, hosting a joint booth. Project coordinator Bernd Stannowski and other representatives engaged with visitors, explaining the technology behind the projects. Von ARDENNE, a PEPPERONI partner, was also present, showcasing coating systems for applications from R&D to industrial scale, with Martin Fischer highlighting their scalable physical vapour deposition processes. Visitors could also learn more about the PEPPERONI project through flyers and the project newsletter.
Additionally, partners from Polymer Competence Center Leoben GmbH (PCCL), Gernot Oreski and Petra Christöfl, also presented advancements in materials research. These contributions were not part of PEPPERONI but reflect the strong expertise of its partners. In addition, Dr. Oreski gave a talk entitled “Design for Repair of PV Modules – a Meaningful or Crazy Idea?” as part of the ongoing IEA PVPS-Photovoltaic Power Systems Programme Task 13, specifically Subtask 1.2 on Reliability of 2nd Life Photovoltaics.
Through its presence at EU PVSEC 2025, PEPPERONI highlighted not only its achievements but also its active role in fostering collaboration across the European research community. With record-setting tandem cell efficiencies, progress in materials research and robust testing results, the project is helping to accelerate the pathway from research to industrial-scale deployment.
6th General Assembly
Stay tuned to more updates from the project as we prepare for the 6th General Assembly held from 7-8 October 2025 at the Eindhoven University of Technology (TUE) in the Netherlands. On the agenda are poster sessions on cell-level, module-level and pilot line developments as well as plenty of discussion to highlight progress, share challenges and plan next steps. Both the event and lab tour are hosted by the Plasma & Materials Processing group of the Physics Department at TUE, which is renowned in the field of atomic-scale processing with a particular emphasis on atomic layer deposition (ALD) and spatial ALD.