Next Generation Materials for Solar Photovoltaics 2027

Sunlight is abundant. Turning it into useful power still comes down to chemistry. Next generation materials for solar photovoltaics returns to Burlington House for a one day symposium on the molecules, materials and devices shaping how we harvest light, held in the library of the Royal Society of Chemistry, a room that has hosted scientific argument for generations.

The meeting is deliberately broad. Organic, inorganic and hybrid photovoltaics all belong here: metal halide perovskites and tandem architectures, printed and flexible thin film devices, dye sensitised and quantum dot systems, luminescent solar concentrators, and the indoor and ambient light harvesting now powering sensors, wearables and battery free electronics. Around the devices sit the questions that decide whether they last and scale, from operational stability and deployment to the sustainability and critical materials choices that will define the footprint of the field. Running through all of it is one challenge: how do we find better materials faster, at the bench, through operando characterisation, or through artificial intelligence and simulation driven discovery.

Six invited speakers, spanning senior, mid career and early career researchers from across the international community, are joined by  contributed talks selected from submitted abstracts and a poster session with prizes that runs throughout the day. Whether you come from academia or industry, and whether you make materials, measure them, model them or manufacture with them, we warmly invite you to join us in London on Friday 22 January 2027. Registration opens at 08:30 and the meeting closes at 19:00.

Registration:

£200 for Royal Society of Chemistry members,

£350 for non-members

£150 for student members

£250 for student non-members.

Lunch and refreshments are included.

Abstracts for contributed talks are invited by Friday 11 December 2026, with decisions returned within a week. Poster abstracts are accepted until Friday 15 January 2027. Registration closes Sunday 10 January 2027.