What are the latest advancements in the solar industry?
We’re answering this question in our NEW series as we discuss recent innovations and developments within solar technology. In this article, we introduce you to Perovskite Solar Panels. Be sure to stay tuned to catch all the instalments!
Part 2 – Thin Film Solar Panels
Part 3 – Perovskite Solar Panels
Understanding perovskites
A perovskite is a type of material that has the same crystal structure as the mineral, calcium titanium oxide, the first-discovered perovskite crystal. A large number of different elements can be combined to form perovskite structures. Using this compositional flexibility, scientists can design perovskite crystals to have exceptionally diverse optical, physical, and electrical characteristics. Today, perovskite crystals are found in ultrasound machines, memory chips, and now – solar cells.
Perovskites in clean energy applications
All photovoltaic solar cells rely on semiconductors. These are materials in the middle ground between electrical insulators such as glass, and metallic conductors, such as copper. Semiconductors turn the energy from light into electricity. Light from the sun excites electrons in the semiconductor material, which flow into conducting electrodes and produce electric current.
Since the 1950’s, silicon has been the primary semiconductor material used in solar cells. This is because its semiconducting properties align well with the spectrum of the sun’s rays, and it is relatively abundant and stable. However, the large silicon crystals used in conventional solar panels require an expensive, multi-step manufacturing process that utilizes a lot of energy.
In the search for an alternative, scientists have harnessed the tunability of perovskites to create semiconductors with similar properties to silicon. When used to create solar cells, perovskites have shown potential for high performance and low production costs. Moreover, perovskite solar cells can be manufactured using simple, additive deposition techniques, like printing, for a fraction of the cost and energy. Owing to the compositional flexibility of perovskites, they can also be tuned to ideally match the sun’s spectrum.
The below illustration shows a cross-section of a perovskite solar cell.
Developments in perovskite solar cell technology
In 2012, researchers first discovered how to make a stable, thin-film perovskite solar cell with light photon-to-electron conversion efficiencies over 10%, using lead halide perovskites as the light-absorbing layer. Since then, the sunlight-to-electrical-power conversion efficiency of perovskite solar cells has skyrocketed, with the laboratory record standing at 25.2%. Researchers are also combining perovskite solar cells with conventional silicon solar cells – record efficiencies for these “perovskite on silicon” tandem cells are currently 29.1% (surpassing the record of 27% for conventional silicon cells) and rising rapidly. With this rapid surge in cell efficiency, perovskite solar cells and perovskite tandem solar cells may soon become cheap, highly efficient alternatives to conventional silicon solar cells.
In closing
Perovskite solar cells have shown remarkable progress in recent years with rapid increases in conversion efficiency, from reports of about 3% in 2006 to over 25% today. While perovskite solar cells have become highly efficient in a very short time, a number of challenges remain before they can truly become a competitive commercial technology.
Resources
1. WATCH a video on Perovskite Solar Panels
2. CHAT to our solar experts about a clean energy solution for your home, factory or office
Source:
https://www.cei.washington.edu/education/science-of-solar/perovskite-solar-cell/
https://www.energy.gov/eere/solar/perovskite-solar-cells