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Holland comes up with a solution to make perovskite solar cells more stable
Eindhoven University of Technology research to maintain perovskite solar cell stable
Perovskite solar cells are low-cost, easy to produce and efficient almost as much as conventional silicon solar panels and, like the latter, they use sunlight to generate electricity. Over time, however, sunlight can damage the quality of perovskite solar panels to the point of critically limiting their efficiency and stability.
A group of researchers from the Eindhoven University of Technology in Holland recently developed a theory explaining why perovskite cells lose their stability with sunlight, publishing their study in the scientific journal Nature Communications.
In the field of solar cells, perovskite is a good alternative to silicon because it is abundant and easy to reproduce. What’s more, the performance of perovskite solar cells has remarkably improved over the last decade: they now boast an efficiency rating in excess of 25%, which is very close to silicon cells’ current rating.
Perovskite solar panels are commonly made out of halide compounds, which combine organic materials like methylammonium or formamidinium with a metal (usually lead or tin) and halides like bromide or iodide. This is a really good combination because electricity can be generated in the material with the least amount of photons; in addition, it is very useful in tandem solar cells.
Perovskite solar cells pose a problem, however: while, on the one hand, sunlight provides them with the needed photon energy, on the other it causes them to become unstable, and this adversely affects their performance over time. To get a better grasp of this, we need to delve into what happens at an atomic level when the light hits the cell: a certain amount of light triggers a reaction whereby more and more iodide accumulates in iodide-rich regions and bromide is gradually expelled, segregating the compound and reducing the cell’s efficiency.
The theory advanced by the researchers reveals possible solutions to the instability problem in perovskite solar cells. Limiting the amount of light hitting the cell seems like the most obvious solution, but that would inevitably impair the cell’s efficiency. Therefore, a better option would be to avoid segregation by changing the amount of bromide in the compound. However, the researchers say that their theory is highly flexible and could be applied in the future to other semi-conductor materials.
A group of researchers from the Eindhoven University of Technology in Holland recently developed a theory explaining why perovskite cells lose their stability with sunlight, publishing their study in the scientific journal Nature Communications.
In the field of solar cells, perovskite is a good alternative to silicon because it is abundant and easy to reproduce. What’s more, the performance of perovskite solar cells has remarkably improved over the last decade: they now boast an efficiency rating in excess of 25%, which is very close to silicon cells’ current rating.
Perovskite solar panels are commonly made out of halide compounds, which combine organic materials like methylammonium or formamidinium with a metal (usually lead or tin) and halides like bromide or iodide. This is a really good combination because electricity can be generated in the material with the least amount of photons; in addition, it is very useful in tandem solar cells.
Perovskite solar cells pose a problem, however: while, on the one hand, sunlight provides them with the needed photon energy, on the other it causes them to become unstable, and this adversely affects their performance over time. To get a better grasp of this, we need to delve into what happens at an atomic level when the light hits the cell: a certain amount of light triggers a reaction whereby more and more iodide accumulates in iodide-rich regions and bromide is gradually expelled, segregating the compound and reducing the cell’s efficiency.
The theory advanced by the researchers reveals possible solutions to the instability problem in perovskite solar cells. Limiting the amount of light hitting the cell seems like the most obvious solution, but that would inevitably impair the cell’s efficiency. Therefore, a better option would be to avoid segregation by changing the amount of bromide in the compound. However, the researchers say that their theory is highly flexible and could be applied in the future to other semi-conductor materials.
