April 2018

Researchers from Northwestern University and Argonne National Laboratory research team have developed a perovskite-based next-generation device for nuclear radiation detection that could provide a significantly less expensive alternative to the detectors now in commercial use.

The high-performance material is used in a device that can detect gamma rays, weak signals given off by nuclear materials, and can efficiently identify individual radioactive isotopes. The new material also has the advantage of inexpensive production. Potential uses for the new device include more widespread detectors for nuclear weapons and materials as well as applications in biomedical imaging, astronomy and spectroscopy.

Oxford PV has announced it has secured a further £8.02 Million (around $11.2 USD) in funding from its existing investors including Statoil and Legal & General Capital, to continue the commercialization of perovskite-on-silicon tandem solar cell technology.

The funding will enable Oxford PV to continue to transfer its advanced perovskite-on-silicon tandem solar cell technology from the company's lab in Oxford, UK to industrial scale processes and equipment at the company's demonstration line in Brandenburg an der Havel, Germany. Oxford PV is working to fully optimize its commercial sized perovskite-on-silicon tandem solar cell technology, to ensure ease of integration into large scale silicon solar cell and module production. The company is closely collaborating with its development partner ' a major manufacturer of silicon solar cells and modules.

Saule Technologies, Poland-based developer of perovskite solar cells ink-jet printed on thin foil, has issued an open call for companies interested in licence agreements for BIPV applications in Middle Eastern countries. This follows Saule's recent announcement of the first commercial contract in BIPV with Norwegian construction company Skanska.

Saule Technologies offers flexible licence-based cooperation opportunities for companies active in the Middle East, available for entities interested in the development, distribution and integration of Saule's solar cells in BIPV applications. The subject of the licence is an opaque PV product with very high energy conversion efficiency which can be easily integrated with building facades, and an efficient, translucent perovskite cell in any color (so-called "solar window"). Conditional licence (Exclusive Licence and Non-Exclusive Licence) for the use of any future product can be granted for a chosen country or group of countries not covered by the licence agreement with another entity.

A multi-institutional team of researchers from the Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Hunan University and the University of Nebraska'Lincoln used photoluminescence measurements, along with neutron and x-ray scattering, to study the relationship between hybrid perovskite materials' microscopic structure and optoelectronic properties. Neutron scattering has revealed, in real time, the fundamental mechanisms behind the conversion of sunlight into energy in such materials, to gain a better understanding that will enable the design of better solar cells.

By examining the material under varying degrees of temperature, the researchers were able to track atomic structural changes and establish how hydrogen bonding plays a key role in the material's performance. Unlike their singular silicon or germanium counterparts, hybrid perovskites are made of both organic and inorganic molecules. 'The advantage of having both organic and inorganic molecules in a well-defined crystal structure means we can tailor the material by tuning either one group or the other to optimize the properties,' said Kai Xiao, a researcher at ORNL's Center for Nanophase Materials Sciences. 'But even though researchers have been studying these materials for several years, we still don't fully understand on a fundamental level how the organic components are affecting the properties.'

Researchers at the Max Planck Institute for Solid State Research have found that in a certain perovskite, light not only releases electrons, but also electrically charges atoms. This novel photoeffect is said to be extremely large - ion conductivity increased by a factor of one hundred. For solar cells made from this material, the high light-induced ion conductivity is rather damaging but the consequences can be counteracted. The researchers find the effect ground-breaking in itself, as it makes novel, light-controlled electrochemical applications conceivable, such as batteries directly charged by light.

The research team has examined how light influences the transport of electricity in materials based on the perovskite methylammonium lead iodide (MAPI). In their experiments, the researchers observed that ions, or charged atoms, contribute to conductivity to an unexpectedly high degree when the material is illuminated. Light that influences ion transport has previously been demonstrated in biology: Illumination is able to indirectly alter the permeability of a cell membrane. "Very surprising, however, is the fact that the ionic conduction of crystalline solids can be directly modified and to what extent this is possible," says the research team.

Imec, the leading research hub focused on nanoelectronics, energy and digital technologies and partner in EnergyVille, has been named the coordinator of an ambitious 3-year European Union (EU) funded project called "ESPResSo" (Efficient Structures and Processes for Reliable Perovskite Solar Modules), that gathers known leaders in the field of perovskite PV technology to revolutionize Europe's photovoltaics (PV) industry.

The ESPResSo consortium has been granted over 5 Million by the European Union to overcome the limitations of today's state-of-the-art perovskite PV technology, bring perovskite solar cells to the next maturity level, and demonstrate their practical application.

The Solar Energy Research Institute of Singapore (SERIS) at the National University of Singapore (NUS) has announced a new R&D goal to develop a commercially viable thin-film-on-silicon tandem solar cell with 30% conversion efficiencies.

SERIS researchers will collaborate with Nanyang Technological University (NTU) and Campus for Research Excellence and Technological Enterprise (CREATE) of NRF on both III-V and perovskite materials, while SERIS will develop optimized silicon bottom cells.

Researchers at Aalto University in Finland have designed a new, simplified method for testing solar cells based on perovskite and dye sensitized technologies for degradation. This presumably follows Aalto's findings from February 2018 regarding deficiencies in current aging tests performed on perovskite-based solar cells.

The researchers explain that their fast, low threshold photography method could detect even slight disintegration in a perovskite structure, with more reliable results than optical measurement devices, and lower complexity and labor requirements than more commonly used x-ray crystallography.

A joint team of researchers led by Professor Federico Rosei at the Institut national de la recherche scientifique (INRS), and Dr. Riad Nechache from École de technologie supérieure (ÉTS), both located in Montreal, Canada, have developed a composite perovskite thin film made of two different inorganic oxide materials that significantly improves the performance of solar cells.

The team demonstrated a cell in which the open-circuit voltage and short-circuit photocurrent are tunable by varying the electrical resistance of the device, which in turn is controlled by externally applying voltage pulses. This provides an alternative way of achieving highly stable, high-efficiency conversion.

A team of researchers led by Professor Biwu Ma from Florida State University demonstrated a new approach to building efficient and spectrally stable red perovskite LEDs. The team developed a simple solution processing method followed by thermal annealing to prepare highly luminescent ultra-smooth polymer'perovskite composite thin films with tunable emissions from red to deep-red.

Light emitting diodes (LEDs) incorporating inorganic, organic, or nanoscale materials are highly promising for solid-state lighting and displays. Despite the significant progress achieved in green emitting perovskite LEDs in recent years, blue or red emitting LEDs still remain a challenge with regards to their performance and spectral stability during operation.