New underwater perovskite solar cell reaches 35% efficiency, lasts years submerged
Yunnan University researchers built a moisture-tuned perovskite cell that keeps working meters below the ocean surface, addressing perovskites' usual rapid degradation.
What to know
- A Yunnan University team led by Simin Ma built a perovskite solar cell engineered to work while submerged, tuning it to wavelengths that survive several meters of seawater.
- A chemical additive addressed perovskites' usual weakness—rapid degradation from moisture—yielding 99.6% retained efficiency after 40 days submerged and a projected 5.5-year useful lifespan.
- In lab tests the cell hit about 35% efficiency at simulated 10-meter depth, well above silicon panels' ~20%; a South China Sea field test confirmed it could charge batteries at 2, 6, and 10 meters.
- Potential applications cited by the researchers include powering autonomous underwater vehicles and submerged sensor networks.
Simin Ma Lead researcher, Yunnan University
How it unfolded 2 developments, newest first · click a bar or a number to jump articlesposts
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Field test in South China Sea charges batteries at depth
A panel attached to a small underwater vehicle charged coin cell batteries at 2, 6, and 10 meter depths, with power fluctuating near the surface due to wave effects but becoming steadier, though dimmer, at depth.
“autonomous marine power systems and submerged Internet of Things infrastructure…”
— Researchers (Simin Ma's team) -
first by ScienceAlert, 8d ago
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arstechnica.com/science/2026... The difficulty is that they tend to degrade quite quickly.
2 more of the top 3 · 8 posts in this stretch
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Carefully-designed perovskite solar cells could work underwater, capturing wavelengths that don't work with silicon cells, and lasting longer due to lower light levels and cooler temps. https:// arstechnica.com/science/2026/0 9/a-new-solar-cell-could-generate-electricity-underwater/ # emergingtech
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That's silly. Water really efficiently blocks visible light. I would hope they float the solar panels on the surface. 32 feet higher and you probably get 1000% more usable sunlight.
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Lab tests show 35% efficiency and 5.5-year projected lifespan
Under light filtered to simulate about 10 meters depth, the cell converted roughly 35 percent of incoming energy to electricity, versus about 20 percent for silicon panels; after 40 days submerged in seawater it retained 99.6 percent efficiency, projecting a 5.5-year useful lifetime before dropping to 80 percent output.
“The trick isn't using perovskites—the trick is making them last.”
— Ars Technica, Publication headline/summary line · source -
background
Additive solves perovskites' rapid degradation problem — The team found that an additive, polyhexamethylene guanidine hydrochloride, builds a water-repelling layer and stabilizes the perovskite crystal lattice, curbing the material's usual fast breakdown while improving output.
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background
Yunnan University team unveils underwater perovskite solar cell — Researchers led by Simin Ma developed a perovskite solar cell tuned to absorb the wavelengths of light that penetrate several meters of seawater, aiming to power underwater vehicles and sensors.
Also covered reported alongside — the timeline has no entry for these yet
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first by Mastodon, 9d ago · also Ars Technica, Ars Science
What people are saying 1 voices from 1 site · best of 9 · verbatim
- Sep 12
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Reads article about under-water solar cells.... looks at thousands of acres of parking lots roasting in the Texas sun..... makes a quiet whimpering noise.