Cosmic Veil Coating Boosts Perovskite Solar Cells for Space Missions

• International team develops PDAI₂ “cosmic veil” that lets perovskite solar cells survive decades of space radiation, paving the way for lighter, cheaper satellite power.

A multinational team of researchers has unveiled a deceptively simple coating that could transform lightweight perovskite solar cells from laboratory curiosities into workhorse power sources for satellites and deep-space probes.

Dubbed the “cosmic veil,” the protective layer is made from propane-1,3-diammonium iodide (PDAI₂). When brushed onto wide-band-gap perovskite cells, it acts like molecular armor against the relentless barrage of protons, electrons and ultraviolet rays encountered beyond Earth’s atmosphere.

To prove the point, scientists from the University of New South Wales (UNSW), the University of Oxford, the University of Surrey and four leading Korean institutions blasted both coated and uncoated devices with proton radiation intense enough to mimic more than 20 years in low-Earth orbit. Untreated cells suffered rapid efficiency loss as volatile fragments escaped the crystal lattice. Cells shielded by PDAI₂, however, emerged with only minor performance dents and virtually no structural scarring.

The secret lies in chemistry. Radiation normally kicks perovskite’s organic molecules into a chain reaction that produces gases such as ammonia and hydrogen—substances that literally leak out of the cell and leave behind an energy-sapping Swiss cheese. PDAI₂ plugs that hole by stabilizing the “excited” molecules before they turn destructive, says Dr Jae Sung Yun, energy-technology lecturer at the University of Surrey and study co-author.

Resilience is only half the story. Perovskites can be deposited on thin, flexible substrates at low temperatures, slashing weight and manufacturing costs compared with traditional gallium-arsenide or silicon panels. “Add longevity and you suddenly have a game-changer for next-generation satellites, lunar landers and even space-based solar farms beaming power back to Earth,” Yun notes.

Commercial interest is already stirring. Several aerospace firms are scouting perovskite start-ups, while advocacy groups pushing for orbital solar stations see the coating as the missing piece in their mass-deployment puzzle. The research consortium is now scaling up production techniques and subjecting larger modules to thermal cycling and micrometeoroid impacts—two more hurdles on the road to flight qualification.

If those tests succeed, the cosmic veil could usher in an era of feather-light, high-efficiency space power systems, making ambitious science missions and global clean-energy projects not just possible but practical.