The US Department of Energy (DoE) awarded nearly $40 Million for grid-decarbonizing solar technologies projects. The DoE awarded the funds to 40 research projects, several of which are perovskite related. We'll list the perovskite projects (which were awarded a total of $1.25 million) below.
The DoE also issued a request for information (RFI) to gather input on efficiency, stability and replicability performance targets for perovskite photovoltaic devices that could be utilized to demonstrate technical and commercial readiness for future funding programs.
The DoE requests feedback from Academia, research laboratories, government agencies, and other stakeholders on the proposed targets for single junction, perovskite-only tandem, and hybrid tandem technologies. The deadline to submit the RFI responses is November 12.
The new projects that were chosen are listed below.
The National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), was awarded $300,000 for its "Encapsulation Materials Tailored to Perovskite Photovoltaics" project. This project will design encapsulation specifically for perovskites to aid in their eventual commercialization. The NREL team will work with Dow Chemical Company on this project.
The South Dakota School of Mines and Technology was awarded with $200,000 for its "Remanufacturable Net-Zero Pb Perovskite Solar Modules" project. This project will create a tool to help manage the disposal, recycling, and material recovery of perovskite solar modules when they reach the end of their useful life. They aim to create a process to fully recover lead from PV waste to preserve environmental and human health.
The University of Alabama was awarded $300,000 for its "Low-Cost, Highly Efficient and Fast Thermally Pressed Scalable Carbon-Based Planar Perovskite Solar Cells" project. The researchers will develop an ultra-low-cost carbon blackÂ'based planar perovskite solar cell with efficiency above 20%.
The University of Arizona was awarded with $150,000 for its "Multifunctional Nanofiber Reinforcement for Improved Thermomechanical and Chemical Stability of Perovskite Solar Cells" project. This project seeks to improve the reliability and service lifetime of perovskite solar cells through reinforcement with nanofibers of polymers, like nylon or acrylic, that attract water. The nanofibers will improve the thermomechanical stability of perovskite films under temperature cycling and mitigate moisture diffusion across the device without affecting its electronic performance to increase the retention of power conversion efficiency under accelerated aging by 50%.
The University of Toledo was awarded with $300,000 for its "Monolithic Bifacial Halide PerovskiteÂ'Cadmium Selenide Telluride (CST) Tandem Thin-Film Solar Cells" project. This work aims to demonstrate low-cost, high-efficiency, stable monolithic bifacial perovskite-CST tandem thin-film solar cells. This researchers proposes a bifacial tandem design that not only enables monolithic integration of perovskite-CST tandems but also delivers high efficiencies by harvesting light reflected off a surface.