26th Australian Institute of Physics Congress and the Australian and New Zealand Conference on Optics and Photonics

Session

COMMAD: Photovoltaic Devices and Materials

COMMAD

10 Dec 2026, 11:00

Belinda Hutchinson Building (The University of Sydney )

Conveners

COMMAD: Photovoltaic Devices and Materials

• Ziyuan Li (Beijing Institute of Technology)

83. Optical probes of 2D perovskites and perovskite-inspired semiconductors

Laura Herz (University of Oxford)

10/12/2026, 11:00

COMMAD - Optoelectronic and Microelectronic Materials and Devices

Invited talk

Metal-halide perovskites (MHPs) and “perovskite-inspired materials” (PIMs) have recently emerged as versatile materials for solar cells and photocatalytic applications. Ultrafast optical probes of photoconductivity dynamics are particularly useful here, uncovering the generation, localisation and ultimate recombination of charge carriers following photon absorption.

We examine charge...

774. The Physical Limits of Solar Power

Ned Ekins-Daukes (UNSW Sydney)

10/12/2026, 11:30

COMMAD - Optoelectronic and Microelectronic Materials and Devices

Contributed Oral

The thermodynamics of light set firm upper bounds on the power conversion efficiency of a solar cell, with the Landsberg limit setting the ultimate value at 93%. The consequences of this limit are surprising, requiring time-asymmetric absorption that violate Kirchhoff's law of radiation. Time-symmetric solar power conversion schemes are limited to 87% in the case of multi-junction devices and...

580. Silicon Nanowire-Enabled Low-Temperature Flexible Crystalline Silicon Hybrid Solar Cells

Deepak Sharma (RMIT University, Melbourne)

10/12/2026, 11:45

COMMAD - Optoelectronic and Microelectronic Materials and Devices

Contributed Oral

Flexible crystalline silicon (c-Si) solar cells offer a promising route toward lightweight, wearable, and portable photovoltaic (PV) technologies. However, achieving high performance through low-temperature, cost-effective fabrication remains a significant challenge. This work demonstrates a novel hybrid solar cell (HSC) architecture by integrating light-trapping silicon nanowires (SiNWs) with...

773. Spectrum Shifting Superstrates for More Efficient Solar Cells

Kalyen Goymour (The University of Sydney)

10/12/2026, 12:00

COMMAD - Optoelectronic and Microelectronic Materials and Devices

Contributed Oral

Solar cells deployed for space, terrestrial, and commercial applications must achieve long-term stability and efficient harvesting of the solar spectrum. Ultraviolet (UV) light is a major stressor of solar cell stability and power conversion efficiencies (PCEs) during extended operation, particularly in the case of perovskite solar cells. UV irradiation of solar cells breaks organic bonds,...

54. End-to-End Machine Learning Framework for Rapid Spectrum-Adaptive Photovoltaic Cell Design

Xiawa Wang (Duke Kunshan University)

10/12/2026, 12:15

COMMAD - Optoelectronic and Microelectronic Materials and Devices

Contributed Oral

Photovoltaic devices are increasingly required to operate under diverse illumination environments, including standard solar irradiation, indoor lighting, space spectra, and thermophotovoltaic thermal emission. These spectrum-dependent operating conditions create a high-dimensional optimization problem in which material properties, device architecture, and incident spectral profiles are...