Scientists at the Stanford Synchrotron Radiation Lightsource (SSRL) and Stanford University have found a way to make perovskites with qualities ideal for the material's use in solar cells. "Our study builds on work by other groups of researchers at Oxford, Cornell and Stanford that showed using chlorine in the processing can lead to high-quality perovskite films with impressive performance," Aryeh Gold-Parker, PhD student in Stanford University's chemistry department, said.

The perovskite production process begins by dissolving the basic ingredients in a solvent. The solution is deposited and dried, creating a film. The initial crystallized film is known as the precursor. Finally, the film is heated and cooled, reorganizing the film's structure and yielding a perovskite. Though the basic recipe and ingredients are simple, slight chemical manipulations at each stage of the production process can alter the material's physical properties.

UCLA researchers have recently reported a highly efficient thin-film solar cell with a double-layer design that converts 22.4% of the incoming energy from the sun. The device is made by spraying a thin layer of perovskite onto a commercially available solar cell. The solar cell that forms the bottom layer of the device is made of a compound of copper, indium, gallium and selenide, or CIGS.

The performance was reportedly confirmed in independent tests at the U.S. Department of Energy's National Renewable Energy Laboratory. The UCLA device's efficiency rate is similar to that of the poly-silicon solar cells that currently dominate the photovoltaics market.