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Perovskite’s Big Claims and Silicon’s Solid Facts
Why silicon photovoltaics remain the practical choice despite perovskite’s headlines.
Perovskite solar is getting another moment in the sun, with outlandish claims matched by a lack of global perspective on advances. It’s worth stepping carefully through the various dimensions of this photovoltaic technology, weighing what enthusiasts say against what’s demonstrably true today. In doing so, it’s obvious that perovskite’s pathway to mass-market viability is neither straightforward nor guaranteed, particularly when compared to silicon PV, the already scaled and thoroughly dominant technology.
Starting with longevity, perovskite puff pieces keep claiming breakthroughs to achieving silicon-like durability, capable of surviving decades in the field. The reality, however, is significantly less impressive. While accelerated laboratory tests do indeed show stability improvements — some cells retaining 95% or more of their efficiency after 1,000 hours under intense heat and UV — real-world, multi-year field trials are sparse and less optimistic. Perovskite’s inherent chemical sensitivity to moisture, oxygen, heat, and ultraviolet radiation — you know, everything that solar panels deal with every single day — means that even the best solutions will struggle to reliably approach silicon’s…
