Kesterite tech news
The European Commission's CORDIS reported on October 2, 2026, that researchers under the EU--funded LEKPV project at the Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya (UPC) achieved record indoor photovoltaic conversion efficiencies using tailored kesterite thin films. By leveraging molecular ink chemistry, scalable solution processing, and germanium alloying, the researchers engineered the absorber bandgap and interfacial dynamics specifically to match indoor LED emission spectra while mitigating recombination losses. The resulting devices achieved an indoor power conversion efficiency of 15.1% in standard cells and approximately 18% in alloyed configurations, setting a new global benchmark for kesterite technology and offering a non--toxic, earth--abundant alternative to lead-- and cadmium--based indoor solar cells for self--powered Internet of Things (IoT) hardware.