+44 (0)24 7671 8970
More publications     •     Advertise with us     •     Contact us
 
Loading...
{megaLeaderboard}
{normalLeaderboard}
News Article

Stanford study boosts solar cells with perovskite

Silicon/perovskite tandem achieves 17 percent efficiency; CIGS/perovskite reaches 18.6 percent


Microscopic cross-section of a tandem solar cell made with perovskite and CIGS

Stacking perovskites onto a conventional silicon solar cell dramatically improves the overall efficiency of the cell, according to a new study led by Stanford University scientists. The researchers describe their perovskite-silicon solar cell in this week's edition of the journal Energy & Environmental Science.

The team has also applied the stacking technique to CIGS cells and achieved similar efficiency improvements.

"We've been looking for ways to make solar panels that are more efficient and lower cost," said study co-author Michael McGehee, a professor of materials science and engineering at Stanford. "Right now, silicon solar cells dominate the world market, but the power conversion efficiency of silicon photovoltaics has been stuck at 25 percent for 15 years."

One way to improve efficiency is to build a tandem device made of silicon and another inexpensive photovoltaic material. In 2009, scientists showed that perovskites made of lead, iodide and methylammonium could convert sunlight into electricity with an efficiency of 3.8 percent. Since then, researchers have achieved perovskite efficiencies above 20 percent, rivaling commercially available silicon solar cells.

"Our goal is to leverage the silicon factories that already exist around the world," said Stanford graduate student Colin Bailie, co-lead author of the study. "With tandem solar cells, you don't need a billion-dollar capital expenditure to build a new factory. Instead, you can start with a silicon module and add a layer of perovskite at relatively low cost."

Silicon solar cells generate electricity by absorbing photons of visible and infrared light, while perovskite cells harvest only the visible part of the solar spectrum where the photons have more energy. "Absorbing the high-energy part of the spectrum allows perovskite solar cells to generate more power per photon of visible light than silicon cells," Bailie said.

A roadblock to building an efficient perovskite-silicon tandem has been a lack of transparency. "Colin had to figure out how to put a transparent electrode on the top so that some photons could penetrate the perovskite layer and be absorbed by the silicon at the bottom," McGehee said. "No one had ever made a perovskite solar cell with two transparent electrodes."

Perovskites are easily damaged by heat and readily dissolve in water. This inherent instability ruled out virtually all of the conventional techniques for applying electrodes onto the perovoskite solar cell, so Bailie did it manually with a sheet of plastic with silver nanowires on it. "We built a tool that uses pressure to transfer the nanowires onto the perovskite cell, kind of like a temporary tattoo. You just need to rub it to transfer the film," he explained.

For the experiment, the Stanford team stacked a perovskite solar cell with an efficiency of a 12.7 percent on top of a low-quality silicon cell with an efficiency of just 11.4 percent. "We improved the 11.4 percent silicon cell to 17 percent as a tandem, a remarkable relative efficiency increase of nearly 50 percent," McGehee said. 

In another experiment, the research team used a cell made of copper indium gallium diselenide (CIGS). The researchers stacked a 12.7 percent efficiency perovskite cell onto a CIGS cell with a 17 percent efficiency. The resulting tandem achieved an overall conversion efficiency of 18.6 percent.

"Since most, if not all, of the layers in a perovskite cell can be deposited from solution, it might be possible to upgrade conventional solar cells into higher-performing tandems with little increase in cost," the authors wrote.

One unanswered question is the long-term stability of perovskites. "We have a way to go to show that perovskite solar cells are stable enough to last 25 years. My vision is that some day we'll be able to get low-cost tandems that are 25 percent efficient. That's what companies are excited about. In five to 10 years, we could even reach 30 percent efficiency."

 

 

Schletter Group: 48 MWp Project in Italy
ENCAVIS Acquires Two More Solar Parks In Spain and Surpasses The Planned Expansion
Maximum profitability with KACO advanced technology for complex solar roofs
Enviromena wins contract to re-power three major solar farms ahead of the summer energy peak
New Swansea University Collaboration to Support Sustainable, Locally Manufactured Solar PV
New Swansea University Collaboration to Support Sustainable, Locally Manufactured Solar PV
Next2Sun Builds World's Largest Vertical PV Plant at Frankfurt Airport
DNV Publishes Bankability Study of Solcast Satellite Irradiance Data
Steel company SSAB switches to fossil-free energy in Italy with PV solution from Solnet
janom Investments enters the Croatian solar energy industry by investing in a 30 MW power plant project
Trina Solar Vertex S+ 505W n-type dual-glass modules enter mass production
BayWa r.e. and 3E sign partnership agreement for monitoring & analytics of global PV portfolio
Accelerating Spain's Energy Transformation: LONGi to supply Naturgy with 1 million modules in new deal
NTR announces corporate PPA with Almac Group to buy energy from Murley Wind Farm, Northern Ireland
Oxford PV sets new solar panel efficiency world record
Order Intake for the Construction of Wind Turbines in Turkey
Trilantic Europe acquires stake in AEROCOMPACT Group
Octopus Energy makes solar farm debut in Germany
Austria-based KOGA Energy, a solar EPC solutions provider, has kicked off.
Exus to acquire 625MW New Mexico solar portfolio
Capcora Accompanies SUSI Partners In Raising Senior Debt For a Polish Renewables Portfolio
Qualitas Energy acquires a 96 MW wind energy project pipeline in Germany
Nordex Group receives orders from the UK for approx. 150 MW
Trina Solar gains EPD certification from UL Solutions and EPDItaly for industry leading modules
Mandarin Oriental Hyde Park, London instals innovative solar tech to decarbonise heating
Efficiency First: The Road to Electrification
SCHLETTER Supplies Austria's Largest PV Roof System
E.ON partners with UK renewable heat innovator Naked Energy
Sonnedix signs innovative EUR500 million loan facility to finance construction of its renewable electricity pipeline in Europe and UK
Construction begins on Glennmont and Ørsted’s Borkum Riffgrund 3 offshore wind farm in Germany
ABB shores up reliable power supply at Southeast Asia’s largest floating solar plant
Sonnedix starts construction of 300MW UK solar PV portfolio

×
Search the news archive

To close this popup you can press escape or click the close icon.
Logo
×
Logo
×
Register - Step 1

You may choose to subscribe to the Solar + Power Magazine, the Solar + Power Newsletter, or both. You may also request additional information if required, before submitting your application.


Please subscribe me to:

 

You chose the industry type of "Other"

Please enter the industry that you work in:
Please enter the industry that you work in: