Renewable energies have turned out to be an attractive option in meeting the energy demands in sustainable and affordable ways. At present, the amount of electricity production is not able to satisfy the global energy demands. Tens of giga-watts of wind turbines, hydropower generators and solar photovoltaic modules are installed worldwide. It is anticipated in the future that about one-thirds of the energy generated would be from solar photovoltaics (PV) technology. Of all the renewable energies available, solar PV is dominant with an annual growth rate of 60% between 2000-2016. Perovskite solar cells occupy a significant share in solar PV, since it can function at diffused light (low-light conditions), low cost fabrication, simple device fabrication, high efficiency and versatility in product integration. Even though the efficiencies of PSC are in par with the established Si solar cells, Apart from energy conversion efficiencies, stability and economic processing of the PSCs play vital roles. To commercialize PSCs, it is mainly hindered by the issues related to the (organic) HTM, perovskite stability, device architecture and protocols for large-scale development of PSC need to be taken into account.

For the past 11 years I have been working on renewable energy (various solar cells) and developed novel semiconducting materials, new device architectures, catalyst, gel-electrolyte, inorganic hole transport material, prototype modules and panels. After joining as a DST-INSPIRE Faculty in ARCI, I had carried out extensive research in perovskite solar cells in a way to develop stable perovskite and novel materials for commercialization of this technology. I am also playing a pivotal role in formulating a couple of projects related to development of product based on PSC. Here, my primary goal was to translate solar cell research into solar cell technology for commercialization. So far I have published 28 research papers with Impact factor of 170, 4 book chapters and 1 International Patent in the field of solar cells and a number of presentations in International Conferences. I firmly believe that the experience I acquired in this course of time will help me to extend this to real marketable products for harvesting indoor light is highly essential. Being a young scientist, I am in the process of building up a strong relationship with various research groups among BRICS countries. If selected I strongly believe that this will help me to strengthen the Solar Photovoltaics activities which I currently pursue at ARCI which ultimately leads to strengthening of my role in government’s initiatives towards a sustainable India.