ARENA has expanded its solar R&D commitment to AUD 105.6 million across 20 projects
The portfolio combines advanced cell research with efforts to cut construction and operating costs
Several projects are testing technologies that could move beyond today’s conventional silicon PV designs
Australia is putting more money into the next generation of solar technology, with the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) committing up to AUD 105.6 million, the agency’s largest single investment in solar PV research and development.
The funding for the Ultra Low-Cost Solar PV Research and Development Funding Round was initially set at AUD 60 million. ARENA’s Acting CEO Chris Faris said the agency increased the funding to support a broader portfolio of projects and accelerate progress toward its ultra-low-cost solar goal.
ARENA aims to bring the installed cost of large-scale solar to 30 cents per watt and achieve 20% module efficiency by 2030 under its ultra-low-cost solar plan. The aim is to reduce the levelized cost of electricity (LCOE) for solar PV to under AUD 20/MWh, but it flags evolving market conditions and deployment challenges in achieving these aims (see ARENA: Lower Solar Module Prices Not Enough For 30-30-30 Goal).
“Achieving ultra low-cost solar requires innovation across the entire value chain. From the solar cells and modules themselves through to the way solar farms are built, operated and maintained, these projects will help unlock practical solutions that support a faster, more affordable energy transition,” added Faris.
The 20 projects selected for the latest funding support have been divided into two streams. The first focuses on cells and modules, with projects aimed at improving efficiency, reducing costs and increasing stability. The second covers balance-of-system (BoS) costs and operations and maintenance (O&M), including ways to lower deployment and maintenance expenses and improve the output of utility-scale solar plants.
Several projects are targeting the performance and durability of next-generation solar cells. The Australian National University (ANU), for example, will receive AUD 6 million for a project on TOPCon back-contact (TBC) silicon cells. The work involves ANU, UNSW, the University of Melbourne, PV Lab Australia, and JinkoSolar. The project will examine cell fabrication, surface passivation, photon management, lower-cost metallization, and longer-life module designs. Their target is to develop TBC cells with efficiencies above 28% and assess whether the technology can move toward pilot-scale manufacturing.
Another ANU project will investigate low-cost parallel-connected perovskite/silicon tandem cells, receiving AUD 7.1 million from ARENA.
At the University of Sydney, Prof. Anita Ho-Baillie and her team will receive funding to work on the stability of silicon-perovskite tandem cells. The project has been awarded AUD 7.4 million and will be carried out with Australian solar manufacturer Unison Solar Energy. The research will focus on whether the cells can retain their efficiency over a solar panel's lifetime. The project is scheduled to run for five years, starting in 2027.
The University of Sydney said the team has already achieved 30% conversion efficiency in silicon-perovskite tandem cells on both small and large areas, with the results independently confirmed by recognized testing centers.
The ARENA funding is not limited to cell technology. Projects in the second stream (BoS and O&M) include work on AI-enabled reliability and yield improvements for utility-scale PV, lightweight bifacial laminate systems, and software platforms designed to optimize solar farm O&M.
UNSW will work on site-tailored modules intended to reduce utility-scale deployment costs, alongside projects using machine learning, risk mapping, and AI-enabled technologies to improve O&M.
Among the projects selected in this category is one by Sunspence Pty Ltd, which counts UNSW and Energus as project partners. It plans to deploy AUD 3.6 million in ARENA proceeds to develop a lightweight solar farm system for utility-scale solar using bifacial solar laminate, instead of conventional glass modules and heavy structures. It will test a 44-kW scale prototype to validate the system’s performance.
Together, the selected projects cover the solar value chain from cell design to how large solar farms are built and operated. ARENA said this broader approach is necessary because reducing the cost of solar electricity will require improvements beyond the cells and modules themselves.
A list of all the winning projects is available on ARENA’s website.
