As PEPPERONI is nearing its project completion at the end of October 2026, many partners communicated their progress, achievements and results to a wide audience at several international high-impact events in June and July 2026, including the 54th IEEE Photovoltaic Specialists Conference, the 6th edition of the tandemPV Workshop and the 2026 ISIE Socio-Economic Metabolism conference.
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The 54th IEEE Photovoltaic Specialists Conference
Held during the week of 7-12 June 2026, in vibrant New Orleans, Louisiana, USA, the 54th IEEE Photovoltaic Specialists Conference (IEEE PVSC 54) featured a world-class technical program across twelve topical areas, including a new area on industrial development. Attendees were able to hear from leading keynote, plenary, and invited speakers sharing the latest breakthroughs in PV science, engineering, manufacturing, and policy. The popular Sunday tutorials offered valuable learning opportunities for both newcomers and seasoned professionals, while the exhibition area showcased cutting-edge innovations in materials, characterisation, and manufacturing. These events ere complemented by rich opportunities to connect, whether in person or online, fostering new collaborations, lasting friendships, and renewed ties.
Chiara Barretta from the Polymer Competence Center Leoben GmbH (PCCL), the leading Austrian “Center of Excellence” for cooperative research in the area of polymer engineering and sciences, served as a chair for Area 7 and delivered a tutorial on “Perovskite and Tandem Packaging and Reliability“. Additionally, her poster on “Towards Compatible Encapsulants for Industrial Perovskite-Silicon Tandem Modules” was awarded “Best Poster in Area 6”, which earned Chiara a certificate of her achievement, and was later relocated to a centralised location in the conference centre to acknowledge the outstanding work.
The 6th edition of the tandemPV Workshop
Every year, the tandemPV Workshop serves as a unique platform that brings together leading experts and researchers from the silicon and thin-film photovoltaic communities, fostering collaboration and innovation at the forefront of photovoltaic innovation. Hosted by the Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin (HZB) and led by the Local Organising Committee of Steve Albrecht, Angelika Harter, Lars Korte, and Silvia Mariotti of HZB, this year’s edition took place from 17-19 June 2026 in Berlin, Germany, at the Akademie der Künste. It attracted 214 participants from 21 countries, both online and on-site, and featured 127 presentations, including oral and poster presentations, a panel discussion, invited talks, and keynotes. From all over the globe, researchers and industry professionals attended to share and discuss the latest advancements and developments in the field, paving the way for the next generation of solar energy devices!
PEPPERONI contributed to a significant portion of the workshop with three different project partners covering one talk and two poster sessions. Dr Fabian Fertig from QCELLS gave a talk on QCELLS tandem technology, including an update on the tandem development progress, which showed data for full commercial-size tandem modules on efficiency and stability. The two posters were presented by Arman Mahboubi Soufiani from HZB on “Reproducible Fabrication of Perovskite Absorber through Sequential Thermal Evaporation in a Point-source Evaporator: HZB‘s Progresses and Challenges” and by Miha Kikelj from the University of Ljubljana (UL) on “‘Now you see me, now you don’t’: Multifaceted In-Operando Characterisation for Degradation Analysis of Perovskite-Silicon Tandems”.
The 2026 ISIE Socio-Economic Metabolism conference
The 2026 ISIE Socio-Economic Metabolism conference (ISIE SEM 2026), which took place 6-8 July 2026 at the University of Cambridge in Cambridge, UK, was organised by the International Society for Industrial Ecology (ISIE) and brought together researchers working on socio-economic metabolism (SEM), industrial ecology, and resource use across sectors such as energy, buildings, food systems, and mobility. SEM research approaches major global and local challenges from the perspective of material and energy flows, stocks and processes. The conference attracted approximately 200 participants and showcased SEM research whose results have significance for these challenges, and innovations in research methods, tools or concepts which have significance for the field of SEM research itself.
Roberto Magnifico from the University of Liège (ULiège) presented his study, “Future Scenarios of Raw Materials Demand and Supply for the PV Sector: Past, Present and Future” to an audience of around 20–30 researchers from universities and research institutions. His talk focused on how scenarios for the PV sector have evolved over the past 15 years and included a retrospective analysis comparing previous scenario projections with actual developments. To understand if plausibility levels can be added for the scenario choice step, he incorporated insights gathered through interviews and surveys with experts, including partners from the PEPPERONI and ENGIE. The presentation concluded with a case study analysing future indium demand up to 2050 under selected PV deployment and market share scenarios.
