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Research improves efficiency from larger perovskite solar cells
https://news.brown.edu/articles/2015/10/perovskite[font face=Serif][font size=5]Headline[/font]
October 5, 2015 Contact: Kevin Stacey 401-863-3766
[font size=4] Perovskite solar cells are cheaper to make than traditional silicon cells and their electricity conversion efficiency is improving rapidly. To be commercially viable, perovskite cells need to scale up from lab size. Researchers from Brown and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory report a method for making perovskite cells larger while maintaining efficiency.[/font]
[font size=3]PROVIDENCE, R.I. [Brown University] — Using a newly developed fabrication method, a research team has attained better than a 15-percent energy conversion efficiency from perovskite solar cells larger than one square centimeter area. The researchers, from Brown University and the National Renewable Energy Lab (NREL), have reported their findings in the journal Advanced Materials.
Perovskites, materials with a particular crystalline structure, have caused quite a buzz in the solar energy world. Perovskite solar cells are relatively cheap to make, and the efficiency with which they can convert sunlight into electricity has been increasing rapidly in recent years. Researchers have reported efficiency in perovskite cells of higher than 20 percent, which rivals traditional silicon cells. Those high efficiency ratings, however, have been achieved using cells only a tenth of a square centimeter — fine for lab testing, but too small to be used in a solar panel.
“The use of tiny cells for efficiency testing has prompted some to question comparison of perovskite solar cells with other established photovoltaic technologies,” said Nitin Padture, professor of engineering at Brown, director of Brown’s Institute for Molecular and Nanoscale Innovation, and one of the senior authors of the new research. “But here we have shown that it is feasible to obtain 15-percent efficiency on cells larger than a square centimeter through improved processing. This is real progress.”
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October 5, 2015 Contact: Kevin Stacey 401-863-3766
[font size=4] Perovskite solar cells are cheaper to make than traditional silicon cells and their electricity conversion efficiency is improving rapidly. To be commercially viable, perovskite cells need to scale up from lab size. Researchers from Brown and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory report a method for making perovskite cells larger while maintaining efficiency.[/font]
[font size=3]PROVIDENCE, R.I. [Brown University] — Using a newly developed fabrication method, a research team has attained better than a 15-percent energy conversion efficiency from perovskite solar cells larger than one square centimeter area. The researchers, from Brown University and the National Renewable Energy Lab (NREL), have reported their findings in the journal Advanced Materials.
Perovskites, materials with a particular crystalline structure, have caused quite a buzz in the solar energy world. Perovskite solar cells are relatively cheap to make, and the efficiency with which they can convert sunlight into electricity has been increasing rapidly in recent years. Researchers have reported efficiency in perovskite cells of higher than 20 percent, which rivals traditional silicon cells. Those high efficiency ratings, however, have been achieved using cells only a tenth of a square centimeter — fine for lab testing, but too small to be used in a solar panel.
“The use of tiny cells for efficiency testing has prompted some to question comparison of perovskite solar cells with other established photovoltaic technologies,” said Nitin Padture, professor of engineering at Brown, director of Brown’s Institute for Molecular and Nanoscale Innovation, and one of the senior authors of the new research. “But here we have shown that it is feasible to obtain 15-percent efficiency on cells larger than a square centimeter through improved processing. This is real progress.”
…[/font][/font]
