Researchers find that adding capsaicin to a perovskite precursor can improve the efficiency of solar cells

Researchers from China have found that adding capsaicin, the molecule that makes chili peppers spicy, could improve perovskite-based solar cells' efficiency and stability.

"Considering the electric, chemical, optical, and stable properties of capsaicin, we preliminarily found that it would be a promising candidate," said Qinye Bao, senior author of the study. However, they needed to do some testing to find the ideal recipe. The researchers found, after executing their experiments, that 0.1 percent capsaicin by weight added to a MAPbl₃ perovskite precursor provided benefits.

As a result, the team reports that perovskite solar cells made with the compound had a power conversion efficiency of 21.88 percent. While this is below the record for perovskite cells, it's extremely high for polycrystalline MAPbl₃ cells.

It was seen that stability also improved. It is reported that the cells maintained high production levels for promising periods of time.

This is not the first time researchers have discovered such a technique. Previously, it was discovered that solar cells' performance could be increased when dosed with caffeine.