June 2019

Researchers from the University of Surrey's Advanced Technology Institute (ATI) have produced a perovskite solar cell which contains 50% less lead, replaced with the more innocuous tin. By fine-tuning their tin solar cell, the researchers were able to create a product that is able to absorb infrared light in a similar manner as silicon cells. They also found that by stacking lead-only cells with the ones mixed with tin can lead to power conversion results that outperform those of silicon-only power cells.

Indrachapa Bandara, lead author of the study and PhD student at ATI, said: 'We are starting to see that many countries are treating the threat of climate change with the seriousness it deserves. If we are to get a handle on the problem and put the health of our planet on the right track, we need high-performing renewable energy solutions.... Our study has shown that tin based perovskite solar cells have an incredible amount of potential and could help countries such as the United Kingdom reach its target of becoming carbon neutral by 2050'.

An international research team led by the University of Houston researchers have tackled a lingering question about how a two-dimensional perovskite crystal composed of cesium, lead and bromine emits a strong green light. Crystals that produce light on the green spectrum are desirable because green light, while valuable in itself, can also be relatively easily converted to other forms that emit blue or red light, making it especially important for optical applications ranging from light-emitting devices to sensitive diagnostic tools.

There was, however, confusion as to how the crystal, CsPB₂Br₅, produced the green photoluminescence. Several theories emerged, without a definitive answer. Now, the researcher team from the United States, Mexico and China, led by the University of Houston, have reported that they have used sophisticated optical and high-pressure diamond anvil cell techniques to determine not only the mechanism for the light emission but also how to replicate it.

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Researchers at the lab of Anders Hagfeldt at EPFL, working with colleagues at the lab of Michael Grätzel, brought real-world conditions into the controlled environment of the lab. Using data from a weather station near Lausanne (Switzerland), they reproduced the real-world temperature and irradiance profiles from specific days during the course of the year, to test PSCs in real-world conditions.

With this approach, the scientists were able to quantify the energy yield of the devices under realistic conditions. 'This is what ultimately counts for the real-world application of solar cells," says Dr. Wolfgang Tress from EPFL.

An international team of clean chemistry researchers, led by Professor Joseph Shapter and Flinders University, has made very thin phosphorene nanosheets for low-temperature perovskite solar cells (PSCs) using the rapid shear stress of the University's revolutionary vortex fluidic device (VFD). This new nanomaterial made from phosphorus, may turn out to be a key ingredient for more sustainable and efficient next-generation PSCs.

'Silicon is currently the standard for rooftop solar, and other solar panels, but they take a lot of energy to produce them. They are not as sustainable as these newer options,' says adjunct Professor Shapter, now at University of Queensland.

A team of Russian-Italian researchers is exploring the use of copper iodide (CuI) as a way to improve the stability of perovskite solar cells. The team from Russia-based institutes NUST MISIS and IPCE RAS, and Italy's University of Rome Tor Vergata, has applied an additional layer of p-type copper iodide semiconductor, made of molecule of methylammonium lead iodine (MAPbI₃), to a perovskite cell for efficient surface passivation.

According to the authors, the MAPbI₃ photoactive layer crystallizes on the surface of a p-type transport layer carrying positive charges and does not demonstrate rapid degradation when exposed to light when accompanied by the release of iodine compounds similar to the used perovskite material. 'As we know, under constant illumination and subsequent heating of perovskite solar cells with a photoactive layer of MAPbI₃, free iodine and hydrogen acid are released, which harms the interface between the layers of perovskite and NiO, forming a set of defects and significantly reducing the stability and performance of the device', said Danila Saranin, researcher at NUST MISIS Laboratory for Advanced Solar Energy.

Researchers from the Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology Graduate University (OIST) have found that a protective layer of epoxy resin helps prevent the leakage of pollutants from perovskite solar cells (PSCs). Adding a 'self-healing' polymer to the top of a PSC can drastically reduce how much lead it discharges into the environment. This may give a boost to prospects for commercializing the technology.

'Although PSCs are efficient at converting sunlight into electricity at an affordable cost, the fact that they contain lead raises considerable environmental concern,' explains Professor Yabing Qi, head of the Energy Materials and Surface Sciences Unit, who led the study. "While so-called 'lead-free' technology is worth exploring, it has not yet achieved efficiency and stability comparable to lead-based approaches. Finding ways of using lead in PSCs while keeping it from leaking into the environment, therefore, is a crucial step for commercialization.'

Saule Technologies has announced that it has reached the point of technology development to be able to print its flexible, lightweight, semi-transparent, single junction solar modules with a consistent 10% efficiency. This performance, according to the Company, already enables BIPV and IoT applications in an economically viable manner.

By the end of March, Saule Technologies has also reached as high as 17.6% efficiency at the cell level (measured by an independent research institute). The durability has been significantly improved as well, with the latest stability tests indicating multiple years of flawless operation under accelerated ageing tests.

Researchers at the University of California, Irvine and other institutions have developed a new process for producing oxide perovskite crystals in flexible, free-standing layers.

'Through our successful fabrication of ultrathin perovskite oxides down to the monolayer limit, we've created a new class of two-dimensional materials,' said co-author Xiaoqing Pan, professor of materials science & engineering at UCI. 'Since these crystals have strongly correlated effects, we anticipate they will exhibit qualities similar to graphene that will be foundational to next-generation energy and information technologies.'

A Taiwan-based research team has developed spray synthesis technology for producing perovskite quantum dots (PQDs). The technology reportedly features a photoluminescence quantum yield rate of nearly 100% and high color purity and stability of PQDs, according to Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST), which sponsors the R&D project.

Using spray synthesis technology, nanometer-sized perovskite crystals are separated from perovskite precursors in solvent and then the crystals are centrifuged to extract PQDs of same sizes, said Lin Hao-wu, which leads the team from the Department of Material Science and Engineering, National Tsing Hua University (NTHU).