Solar cell technology always excites us for the simple fact that the sun’s energy is too good to waste. Especially in places where the sun shines in abundance, solar cells are a great way to generate energy instead of relying on already dwindling fossil fuels.
Spray-on perovskite-based cells make solar energy cheaper to harness.
THIS YEAR, RESEARCHERS AT THE UNIVERSITY OF SHEFFIELD ARE PERFECTING A BREAKTHROUGH SPRAY-ON PROCESS FOR CREATING SOLAR CELLS—JUST LIKE PAINTING A CAR. It’s a process that’s been done before, but this time the researchers are using perovskite.
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If you’ll remember, perovskite made the headlines last year, hailed as an important breakthrough that’s set to improve efficiency and affordability of solar cell technology.
Solar cell technology’s new rising star: Perovskite
Perovskite isn’t exactly a new discovery; it’s been known for more than a century, and has been applied to use in superconductors, memory devices, amplifiers, and electroptical devices. Only until recently has it been used in solar cell technology, which has led to promising results thanks to its diffusion length which improves light-absorbing efficiency and at the same time reduces the need for the complex structures which silicon currently demands.
From an initial efficiency of 3.8{e3829ec1db02d54faaf9fa2de0d48db26af01d7a7944a63c3b26976124791cab}, perovskite-based cells have dramatically advanced to 19.3{e3829ec1db02d54faaf9fa2de0d48db26af01d7a7944a63c3b26976124791cab}. Engineers are hoping for a further increase of up to 32{e3829ec1db02d54faaf9fa2de0d48db26af01d7a7944a63c3b26976124791cab}. In contrast, silicon has a 25{e3829ec1db02d54faaf9fa2de0d48db26af01d7a7944a63c3b26976124791cab} efficiency, but that efficiency comes with high embedded energy to manufacture.
PEROVSKITE IS FAR CHEAPER TO PRODUCE, WHICH COULD LEAD TO SOLAR PANELS COSTING JUST 10 TO 20 CENTS PER WATT, COMPARED TO THE 75 CENTS PER WATT OF SILICON-BASED PHOTOVOLTAIC CELLS.
Spray-painting a polymer glass to create a solar panel on the spot.
(Illustration from http://phys.org/)
The current cost of PV cells is still the main roadblock for their widespread adoption of consumers especially individual homeowners.
As for the new spray-on technology, less perovskite is wasted during the process, which significantly optimizes production costs. For now, the researchers are seeing an 11{e3829ec1db02d54faaf9fa2de0d48db26af01d7a7944a63c3b26976124791cab} efficiency in their perovskite PV cells.
Lead researcher Professor David Lidzey explains, “The perovskite devices we have created still use similar structures to organic cells. What we have done is replace the key light absorbing layer—the organic layer—with a spray-painted perovskite…. Using a perovskite absorber instead of an organic absorber gives a significant boost in terms of efficiency.”
Once the process is scaled up, hopefully it can find application for bigger structures and skyscrapers especially considering their massive energy needs.
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The surplus of solar cells brought about by China these past few years is still causing a ripple effect in the US and Europe. Prices have gone down to the irk of manufacturers there who can’t compete with the influx of low-priced PV cells . The issue isn’t as clear-cut and simple according to Asian Conversations. But ultimately, the article declares the consumers as the winners.
The low prices—and increased efficiency—mean more opportunity for consumers—from small business to individual homeowners—to adopt solar cell technology into their buildings, which means a reduced dependence on non-renewable fossil fuels. Maybe in a not so distant utopian future, we’ll have enough sustainably-produced solar panels to power the Earth to meet our sky-rocketing needs for energy.
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via | http://phys.org/
