Perovskite Solar - Page 4

Japan-based startup PXP Corporation, developer of lightweight and flexible solar cells, has raised a total of 1.5 billion yen (almost USD$10 million) in Series A funding, led by SoftBank Corp., with participation from SOLABLE Corporation, Kowa Optronics Co., Ltd., Toyota Tsusho Corporation, J&TC Frontier LLC (a joint investment vehicle between JFE Engineering Corporation and Tokyo Century Corporation), Automobile Fund Co., Ltd., Mitsubishi HC Capital Co., Ltd., Yokohama Capital Co., Ltd., and TARO Ventures. SoftBank has invested approximately 1 billion yen and acquired approximately 29.9% of PXP's shares.

The solar cell technology being developed by PXP has a tandem structure that combines perovskite solar cells and chalcopyrite solar cells, said to achieve more than 1.5 times the energy conversion efficiency (theoretical value: about 42%) of conventional solar cells. In addition, it is lightweight and flexible, weighing about one-tenth of conventional solar cells, and has high durability against shock and vibration. It can be installed in various locations depending on the application, and it is expected to reduce installation costs. PXP and SoftBank aim to use PXP's next-generation solar cells for various purposes, such as operating SoftBank's data center with green energy, in anticipation of future electricity demand.

MicroQuanta has reportedly announced the successful grid connection of an 8.6 MW ground-mounted PV plant in Lishui, Zhejiang province, China. The plant in eastern China – the world's largest to be built with perovskite solar technology – focuses on agrivoltaics.

The facility sits on previously unused land in Songyang county and features 95,648 MicroQuanta α perovskite modules. The 90 W modules measure 1,245 mm x 635 mm and weigh 12.5 kg. The panels are tilted at a 22-degree angle, utilizing the terrain's natural slope. To allow agricultural use beneath the solar arrays, the lowest edge of the panels are elevated 2 meters off the ground.

Kunshan GCL Optoelectronic Material, a perovskite optoelectronic technology company under GCL Technology Holdings, has recently completed the C1 round of financing led by Goldstone Investment, involving nearly RMB500 million (around USD$68,850,000).

This round of financing introduced institutions such as Kunshan High-Tech Group and HongShan to participate in the investment, and the proceeds will be used to build Kunshan GCL Optoelectronic Material's Kunshan gigawatt perovskite Ore stacked production line, which is expected to be put into operation in 2025. 

An international team of researchers from Bangladesh, USA and Saudi Arabia recently developed a structure that combines a double perovskite absorber layer (DPAL) of Ca₃NCl₃ and Ca₃SbI₃ with an electron transport layer (ETL) and hole transport layer (HTL) of CdS and CBTS via SCAPS-1D. 

The team's research demonstrated that the perovskite solar cell (PSC) with DPAL performs much better with the addition of HTL and is more efficient than single-layer PSCs. This work thoroughly examines the effect of thickness, doping levels, and defect densities of each layer on electrical parameters like VOC, JSC, FF, and PCE. 

It was reported that China-based Microquanta has shipped its self-developed 50 MW perovskite α modules to China Huaneng for a PV demonstration project, reportedly marking China’s first commercial use of four-terminal perovskite-silicon tandem modules. 

The 1,245 mm x 635 mm modules feature perovskite layers on tunnel oxide passivated contact (TOPCon) cells, achieving a power conversion efficiency of 25.4%.

Mercedes-Benz recently unveiled a list of research programs and future technologies it's working on, including a "new kind of solar paint" that could "generate enough electricity for more than 12,000 km per year". While integrating solar panels into vehicles is an existing concept that is being examined by several automotive companies, this "solar paint" seems to hint at something a bit different: a coating that could be used for the entire surface of the car, to capture solar energy. 

Image credit: Mercedes Benz

Solar paint is not a new idea, but an actual implementation of such a coating in the automotive space is yet to be seen - which seems to be what Mercedes-Benz is referring to as part of a new "Pioneering innovations for the car of the future" presentation outlining key research programs it's working on. Of course, Mercedes-Benz does not specify the exact PV technology under development, but it stands to reason that it is possibly perovskite-based technology, due to factors like the specified efficiency level, thickness, lack of rare earths and silicon, and the claimed low cost of the solar paint.

As it currently remains challenging to obtain precise control over the formation of the thin 2D layer used in 2D/3D heterojunction perovskite solar cells, researchers from China's Jinan University set out to design a method for the precise preparation of 2D/3D perovskite heterojunctions.

Using their new method, the team constructed two different 2D/3D heterojunctions using a vapor-solution mixed deposition method and compared them with heterojunctions formed via conventional solution methods, achieving a PCE of the device from 20.67 % to 22.68%. The new strategy could be a useful way to optimize perovskite films and advance the fabrication of high-efficiency perovskite solar cells.

The ICN2 Nanostructured Materials for Photovoltaic Energy (NMPE) Group, led by CSIC Research Prof. Mónica Lira-Cantú, has reported an achievement in advancing solar energy technologies. In collaboration with the National University of Engineering (UNI) in Peru and NASA's High Altitude Student Platform (HASP), the researchers launched perovskite solar cells (PSCs) into the stratosphere to evaluate their stability and performance under extreme conditions.

The project was an collaboration. Kenedy Tabah Tanko, PhD student at ICN2, was responsible for fabricating and encapsulating the PSCs, under the supervision of Prof. Monica Lira-Cantu. Meanwhile, the payload, designed to measure the cells' performance in flight, was crafted by UNI students, under the supervision of Dr. Mónica Marcela Gómez. Finally, the NASA Balloon Program Office (BPO) and the Louisiana Space Consortium (LaSPACE) provided the platform for the experiment, allowing the PSCs to be launched 36 km into the stratosphere from New Mexico, USA.

Researchers from the University of Potsdam and the Chinese Academy of Sciences have combined perovskite with organic absorbers to create highly efficient tandem solar cell. 

The team explained that combining two materials that selectively absorb short and long wavelengths, e.g., blue/green and red/infrared parts of the spectrum, makes the best use of sunlight and is a well-known strategy to increase efficiency in solar cells. Best red/infrared absorbing parts of solar cells so far were, however, made from traditional materials, such as silicon or CIGS (copper indium gallium selenide), which require high processing temperatures, and thus exhibit a relatively high carbon footprint. In their work, the team combined perovskite and organic solar cells, both processed at low temperatures with a low carbon footprint. 

Passivation of 3D perovskite light-harvesting layers with 2D perovskites is an effective strategy to boost the stability, PCEs and reliability of perovskite solar cells. These 2D layers can protect the light-harvesting layers, reducing their reactivity to environmental factors and thus preventing them from degrading quickly over time. 

Researchers from China's Wuhan University of Technology, Xidian University, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China and Germany's Technical University of Munich recently reported a strategy to prompt the formation of homogenous 2D perovskite passivation layers in perovskite-based solar cells. Using their proposed method, they achieved good active-area efficiencies and stabilities in perovskite solar modules based on formamidinium and cesium.