Perovskite Solar - Page 37

Solaires Entreprises Inc. is a Canadian solar energy startup based in Victoria, BC., who has developed perovskite materials and photovoltaic (PV) modules, designed for integration into IoT devices, small consumer electronics, and smart gadgets. Powered by indoor light, the cells are extremely efficient, modular, and are configurable to suit the application.

Dr. Sahar Sam is Solaires Chief Science Officer, and she was kind enough to answer a few questions we had about Soliares. Dr. Sam holds a B.Sc. and an M.Sc. in Materials Science and Engineering from Shiraz University and a Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Victoria. 

Hello Dr. Sam! We'll be happy to get a short introduction to Solaires, the technology, and products.

Founded in 2020 in Victoria, BC, Solaires Entreprises Inc is at the forefront of the next generation of photovoltaics, targeted for both outdoor light and indoor light, by harnessing the promise of perovskites. Our perovskite photovoltaics are light, thin and made of readily available and low cost materials.

It was reported that Sekisui Chemical, a Japanese plastics maker, will begin mass production of perovskite solar cells (PSCs) in an effort to catch up with Chinese competitors.

The company will invest more than 10 billion yen (over USD $68 million) to build a new manufacturing facility with an annual production volume of several hundred thousand square meters by 2030.

Researchers from Chonnam National University, Chinese Academy of Sciences,  Indian Institute of Science (IISc) and Pennsylvania State University have introduced an alternative solar cell design fully based on inorganic perovskites. Their solar cells could be easier to fabricate on a large-scale, while also achieving promising power conversion efficiencies (PCEs).

The key objective of the recent work was to create new solar cells fully based on inorganic perovskites using a developed method that could be easy to up-scale. Ultimately, they fabricated their solar cells using hot-air and thermal evaporation deposition techniques that work at ambient conditions without requiring polar solvents (i.e., liquids containing both positive and negative charges).

A collaborative effort by researchers from the Centre for Hybrid and Organic Solar Energy (CHOSE), Department of Electronic Engineering at Tor Vergata University of Rome, Italy, the Department of Textile Engineering at the University of Guilan, Iran, GreatCell Solar Italia, Institute of Crystallography (IC-CNR), Italy, Department of Biological and Environmental Sciences and Technologies at the University of Salento, Italy and Institute of Nanotechnology (CNR NANOTEC), Italy, has resulted in the development of flexible perovskite solar cells with remarkable power conversion efficiencies (PCE) under white LED illumination.

The team achieved a maximum PCE of 28.9% at an illuminance of 200 lx and a record of 32.5% at 1000 lx, essentially converting a third of the incoming power (note that under 1 sun this figure for perovskite technology is less, i.e. one quarter).

Caelux has concluded a Series A3 funding round, securing $12 million. The funding was spearheaded by Temasek, a prominent global investment company, and attracted participation from entities such as Reliance New Energy (which owns a 20% stake in Caelux), Khosla Ventures, Mitsui Fudosan, and Fine Structure Ventures.

This new funding round contributes to a total of $24 million raised for the Series A stage. The influx of capital will be primarily channeled towards supporting Caelux’s factory expansion, intensive research and development efforts, and the forthcoming product launch. 

Microquanta has reported that its novel perovskite-based PV power station is now connected to the grid. The Company referred to it as a "perovskite commercial rooftop power station", erected over the water for fish farming applications. 

The perovskite power station is located in Qujiang district, Quzhou City, which is rich in water sources and farming. According to local conditions, it adopts the "onboard power generation and offboard farming" model. The installed capacity of the first phase is around 260 kW. The owner is Qujiang Construction Investment. 

Researchers from Zhengzhou University and the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) have devised a novel lead capturing technique for perovskite solar cells: they implanted a multifunctional mesoporous amino-grafted-carbon net into the perovskite solar cells, creating biomimetic cage traps that could effectively mitigate Pb leakage and shield from external invasion under extreme weather conditions. 

The team then explored the synergistic Pb capturing mechanism in terms of chemical chelation and physical adsorption. Additionally, the Pb contamination assessment of end-of-life perovskite solar cells in the real-world ecosystem, including Yellow River water and soil, was proposed by the scientists. 

Researchers at imec and University of Hasselt at Energyville, Belgium, recently set out to improve two key perovskite interfaces for solar cells for efficiency and lifetime.

The work focusses on the upper interface between the perovskite and the fullerene-C60 electron transport layer and the lower interface between the perovskite and the NiOx-based hole transport layer.

Verde Technologies, a perovskite-focused thin-film solar company, has announced a new exclusive partnership with the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) and Northern Illinois University (NIU) to work collaboratively on the commercialization of perovskite solar cells. 

By combining NREL's and NIU’s expertise with Verde's cutting-edge manufacturing techniques, this collaboration aims to unlock the potential of efficient, safe, low-cost perovskite solar panels at an unprecedented scale.

Researchers from China's University of Science and Technology (SUSTech), Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), City University of Hong Kong (CityU) and Korea University have developed an effective strategy to modify the Tin dioxide (SnO₂)/perovskite buried interface by passivating the buried defects in perovskite and modulating carrier dynamics via incorporating formamidine oxalate (FOA) in SnO₂ nanoparticles.

Tin dioxide (SnO₂) is a commonly used electron transport material for n-i-p-type perovskite solar cells (PSCs) due to its high light transmittance and electron mobility, suitable energy levels, good stability under UV irradiation, and it can be processed at low temperatures. The buried interface of perovskite/SnO₂ plays a major role in achieving high efficiency and stability. However, the non-exposed buried interface is challenging to study and manipulate.