Perovskite Solar - Page 63

Scientists from Imperial College London, the University of Surrey, the University of Nottingham, research institute UCL, Switzerland-based Fluxim and London South Bank University have designed a perovskite solar cell that integrates a ferrocene co-mediator interlayer at the interface between the spiro-OMeTAD hole transport layer (HTL) and the active perovskite material.

The team noted that the migration of lithium is critical in the degradation of spiro-OMeTAD-based devices, which is accelerated at higher temperatures, leading to the rapid degradation of the perovskite. The scientists described ferrocene as a sandwich structured material that is highly stable and can be used as a low-cost transition metal complex.

Researchers from Chonnam National University in South Korea, Shivaji University in India, the Belgian research institute KU Leuven and Cardiff University in the UK have built an all-inorganic perovskite solar cell with a terbium doped solar absorber, which reportedly increases thermal stability.

The scientists developed a low-cost and simple hot-air method and also used terbium doping and quantum passivation techniques to stabilize the perovskite phase in the ambient conditions - with all processes carried out in ambient conditions.

Researchers from the UK's University of Cambridge and Diamond Light Source, working with scientists from Japan's Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology (OIST), have found that the defects which limit the efficiency of perovskites are also responsible for structural changes in the material that lead to degradation.

In their work, the researchers used a combination of techniques to mimic the process of aging under sunlight and observe changes in the materials at the nanoscale, helping them gain new insights into the materials. Their findings could accelerate the development of long-lasting, commercially available perovskite photovoltaics.

Researchers from the University of the Basque, University of Trieste and the Basque Research and Technology Alliance (BRTA) have managed to improve the stability and power conversion efficiency of a solar cell based on methylammonium (MA)-formamidinium (FA) lead halide perovskite, by using graphitic and amorphous nitrogen-doped carbon dots (g-N-CDs) as an additive.

In their study, the team set out to examine the influence of carbon dot additives on he efficiency and stability of PSCs. They found that the stability of the g-N-CDs-containing cells was improved. The long-term evaluation of the performances of the cells showed improvement of the power conversion efficiency of the g-N-CDs-containing cells over time, up to 109% of the initial efficiency after 40 days while the reference performance without CDs dropped to 86%.

Saule Technologies and Columbus Energy have partnered with Google Cloud, signing a strategic cooperation agreement to develop new products using perovskite solar cells and solutions in the field of distributed energy and IoT (Internet of Things). Google Cloud will also become a strategic partner of both companies, providing cloud computing services and technologies.

The concept behind IoT is to connect a variety of often small and highly-specialized electronic devices in a network so that they can generate and send information to each other. However, such devices require power and this has greatly limited their potential applications to date. The perovskite solar cells developed by Saule Technologies are not only lightweight, thin and flexible, but they are also able to perform well even in artificial light. These unique advantages make Saule Technologies cells "the perfect energy source for all kinds of IoT devices in virtually all conditions, regardless of power grid availability", according to the Company's statement.

EneCoat Technologies has secured an investment from Global Brain, through its JGC MIRAI Innovation Fund.

EneCoat recently received additional investments from SPARX Group's Mirai Creation Fund III and Mitsubishi Materials and NGK Insulators.

In its recent report, the US Department of Energy Solar Energy Technologies Office (SETO) outlined the main technical challenges, commercialization risks and opportunities and the efforts being made to overcome the obstacles standing before the commercialization of perovskite solar cells.

It's important to note that while SETO mentions that most of the development in the solar field in the next few years will rely on silicon and CdTe, it sees potential in nascent technologies like halide perovskites.

Researchers from ARC Centre of Excellence in Exciton Science, Monash University, University of Sydney and CSIRO Manufacturing have shown how water could be the 'secret ingredient' in a simple way to create perovskite crystals.

Ordinarily, water is kept as far away as possible during the process of creating perovskites as the presence of moisture is severely harmful to them. That’s why perovskites for scientific research are often made via spin coating in the sealed environment of a nitrogen glove box. However, in their new work, the researchers have found a simple way to control the growth of phase-pure perovskite crystals by harnessing water as a positive factor. This liquid-based mechanism works at room temperature, so the approach remains cost effective.

Researchers from Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems ISE, EPFL, Korea Basic Science Institute (KBSI) and Morocco's Abdelmalek Essaadi University have developed a perovskite solar cell with a carbon electrode that achieved 18.5% efficiency.

Schematic diagram of the investigated low-temperature carbon electrode-based PSC with 3D/2D perovskite treated by OAI. Image from study

The solar cell also reportedly retained 82% of their efficiency after 500 hours of continuous illumination. The cell is produced via all low-temperature processes that could likely be scaled into low-cost, large-scale manufacturing ' making the approach attractive despite achieving lower efficiency than record-setting cells.

Researchers from the Singapore-HUJ Alliance for Research and Enterprise (SHARE) and Nanyang Technological University have developed semi-transparent perovskite solar cells with over 13% efficiency and 27% transparency using plasmonic Au nanorods.

Semitransparent hybrid perovskites can open the door to applications in smart windows and building-integrated photovoltaics (BIPV). One route towards semitransparency is thinning the perovskite film, which has several benefits like cost efficiency and reduction of lead. However, this tends to result in reduced light absorbance. To compromise this loss, it is possible to incorporate plasmonic metal nanostructures, which can trap incident light and locally amplify the electromagnetic field around the resonance peaks.