Uploaded July 2026 | Updated September 2026, 2 hours ago
1342nd Ordinary General Meeting and Open Lecture of the Royal Society of NSW — 1 July 2026
"Thin-film photovoltaics — the enabling engine for next-generation tandem solar cells"
Scientia Professor Xiaojing Hao FRSN FAA FTSE
ARC Laureate Fellow and Deputy Director, ARC Research Hub for Photovoltaic Solar Panel Recycling and Sustainability
School of Photovoltaic and Renewable Energy Engineering
UNSW Sydney
The presentation commences at 01:21
Timing Marks:
00:00:00 Introduction: Emeritus Professor Lindsay Botten FRSN, Vice-President, Royal Society of NSW
00:01:21 Presentation: Scientia Professor Xiaojing Hao
00:43:19 Audience Q&A moderated by Emeritus Professor Lindsay Botten
01:01:41 Vote of Thanks: Emeritus Professor Lindsay Botten
01:03:08 Meeting Close
https://www.royalsoc.org.au/events/1342nd-ogm-and-open-lecture/
Summary: Solar energy is already transforming the world, but meeting the demands of a net-zero future will require photovoltaic technologies that go beyond the limits of silicon alone. Tandem solar cells offer a powerful next step: by combining silicon with a wide-bandgap top cell, they can capture more of the Sun’s spectrum and deliver substantially higher efficiencies. Realising this vision, however, depends on solving a central materials challenge. The top cell must combine high efficiency, long-term stability, low cost, and scalable manufacturing — an exceptionally challenging combination to achieve in any one material system. In this talk, Xiaojing Hao will discuss advances in earth-abundant thin-film top-cell technologies developed by her research group and show how they are developing strategies to enable the next generation of tandem solar cells. Beyond higher efficiency, these developments point to a broader opportunity: more sustainable, affordable, and widely deployable solar energy for the future.
Xiaojing Hao is a Scientia Professor and ARC Laureate Fellow at UNSW, Sydney. She obtained her PhD in the School of Photovoltaic and Renewable Energy Engineering of UNSW in 2010. Her research focuses on low-cost, high-efficiency thin-film solar cells and tandem solar cells for both solar photovoltaic and solar fuel applications. She has led her group to achieve several efficiency records for emerging thin-film solar cells, including wide-bandgap chalcogenides (kesterite, chalcopyrite, antimony chalcogenide) and perovskites.
Professor Hao has published more than 250 peer-reviewed journal articles, including a number in Nature Energy, Nature Photonics, and Energy and Environmental Science. She has been awarded more than 20 prestigious awards/prizes, including the 2020 Prime Minister’s Prizes for Science: Malcolm McIntosh Prize for Physical Scientist of the Year, and the 2021 Australian Academy of Science Pawsey Medal. Professor Hao is an elected Fellow of both the Australian Academy of Science and the Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering. Most recently, she was the winner of the 2025 Royal Society of NSW Edgeworth David Medal.
Disclaimer: The opinions, beliefs and viewpoints expressed by the presenters or forum participants in this video, do not necessarily reflect those of the Royal Society of New South Wales.
1342nd Ordinary General Meeting and Open Lecture of the Royal Society of NSW — 1 July 2026
"Thin-film photovoltaics — the enabling engine for next-generation tandem solar cells"
Scientia Professor Xiaojing Hao FRSN FAA FTSE
ARC Laureate Fellow and Deputy Director, ARC Research Hub for Photovoltaic Solar Panel Recycling and Sustainability
School of Photovoltaic and Renewable Energy Engineering
UNSW Sydney
The presentation commences at 01:21
Timing Marks:
00:00:00 Introduction: Emeritus Professor Lindsay Botten FRSN, Vice-President, Royal Society of NSW
00:01:21 Presentation: Scientia Professor Xiaojing Hao
00:43:19 Audience Q&A moderated by Emeritus Professor Lindsay Botten
01:01:41 Vote of Thanks: Emeritus Professor Lindsay Botten
01:03:08 Meeting Close
https://www.royalsoc.org.au/events/1342nd-ogm-and-open-lecture/
Summary: Solar energy is already transforming the world, but meeting the demands of a net-zero future will require photovoltaic technologies that go beyond the limits of silicon alone. Tandem solar cells offer a powerful next step: by combining silicon with a wide-bandgap top cell, they can capture more of the Sun’s spectrum and deliver substantially higher efficiencies. Realising this vision, however, depends on solving a central materials challenge. The top cell must combine high efficiency, long-term stability, low cost, and scalable manufacturing — an exceptionally challenging combination to achieve in any one material system. In this talk, Xiaojing Hao will discuss advances in earth-abundant thin-film top-cell technologies developed by her research group and show how they are developing strategies to enable the next generation of tandem solar cells. Beyond higher efficiency, these developments point to a broader opportunity: more sustainable, affordable, and widely deployable solar energy for the future.
Xiaojing Hao is a Scientia Professor and ARC Laureate Fellow at UNSW, Sydney. She obtained her PhD in the School of Photovoltaic and Renewable Energy Engineering of UNSW in 2010. Her research focuses on low-cost, high-efficiency thin-film solar cells and tandem solar cells for both solar photovoltaic and solar fuel applications. She has led her group to achieve several efficiency records for emerging thin-film solar cells, including wide-bandgap chalcogenides (kesterite, chalcopyrite, antimony chalcogenide) and perovskites.
Professor Hao has published more than 250 peer-reviewed journal articles, including a number in Nature Energy, Nature Photonics, and Energy and Environmental Science. She has been awarded more than 20 prestigious awards/prizes, including the 2020 Prime Minister’s Prizes for Science: Malcolm McIntosh Prize for Physical Scientist of the Year, and the 2021 Australian Academy of Science Pawsey Medal. Professor Hao is an elected Fellow of both the Australian Academy of Science and the Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering. Most recently, she was the winner of the 2025 Royal Society of NSW Edgeworth David Medal.
Disclaimer: The opinions, beliefs and viewpoints expressed by the presenters or forum participants in this video, do not necessarily reflect those of the Royal Society of New South Wales.
