Perovskite solar production

Hanwha Qcells recently announced it will be closing its 3.5GW module factory in South Korea, in response to the stagnant solar market in the country. It was reported that the total installed capacity of solar power in South Korea has been continuously decreasing over the past three years, from 4.7GW in 2020 to 3.4GW in 2022, and is expected to further decrease in 2023.

Closing the factory comes as part of a plan to optimize Hanwha's photovoltaic module production capacity. However, Hanwha stated that it will continue to invest in its factory in Jincheon, South Korea, which will continue to produce TOPCon products and operate a perovskite tandem cell pilot line.

Silicon-based solar cells currently dominate the solar market. It is a proven technology, with established manufacturing processes. However, it is also quite expensive to produce, yields rigid cells and has an estimated efficiency limit of around 29%. In recent years, perovskite-based solar technologies have been drawing a lot of attention, and many academics and companies believe they are the future of the solar industry.

Perovskite Solar Cell (PSC) technology is a photovoltaic (PV) technology based on the use of perovskite materials, mostly in the light-absorbing layers of the cell. There are many types of perovskite materials, and several processes used to deposit these materials to create efficient solar panels. PSCs have potential for creating solar panels that are easily deposited onto most surfaces, including flexible and textured ones. They can also be lightweight, cheap to produce, and more efficient than silicon-based solar cells (efficiencies in the lab have already crossed 30%). 

The major advantages of perovskite-based solar cells are factors of performance, applicability and sustainability:

The US Department of Energy supports perovskite R&D initiatives, both in academia and industry. We have recently interviewed Lenny Tinker, Photovoltaics Program Manager, Solar Energy Technologies Office at the US DoE.

Q: Hello Lenny, thanks for your time. Do you believe perovskite materials hold the key to next-gen solar (PV) energy?

Perovskite solar cells have shown potential for high performance and low production costs. However, considerable work needs to be done in order for these materials to reach commercial success in PV applications.

The following is a sponsored post by Toray Engineering

In an article dated Oct 17, 2022, Toray Engineering introduced its slot-die coating technology, as well as other technologies that can be utilized for perovskite layer deposition for large-scaled production.

This article will describe two processes to formulate Perovskite layers using such technologies, using Toray Engineering’s manufacturing equipment. One of the processes is a 1-step coating method that applies FAPBI3 coating to formulate a power-generation layer. The other process is a 2-step coating method that double coats PBI2 and FAI to formulate a power-generation layer. For both processes, by combining its technologies in slot-die, vacuum dryer, and air knife, Perovskite layers can be formulated on large-scale glass surfaces.

Chinese perovskite solar technology company Renshine Solar (Suzhou) has announced 29.0% steady-state power conversion efficiency of all-perovskite tandem solar cell developed in-house. The company now expects to exceed 30% in 2023.

Japan Electrical Safety and Environment Technology Laboratories (JET) has reportedly certified the efficiency claim that was reported for a designated area of 0.04888 cm².

U.S-based company CubicPV has announced plans to establish 10 GW of conventional mono wafer capacity in the United States. 

While CubicPV reports that its new factory will produce conventional silicon wafers, the company said it will continue research and development of its tandem modules, which reportedly offer more than 30% greater efficiency than the highest efficiency conventional modules. The design stacks two solar cells, with silicon on the bottom, powered by CubicPV’s Direct Wafer technology, and perovskite on the top, the company claims that the tandem design “will dramatically increase the power of every acre of solar deployed.”

Researchers from South-Africa's University of the Western Cape, University of Missouri and Argonne National Laboratory have developed a new way of enhancing the stability and performance of perovskites. 

Missouri University professor Suchismita (Suchi) Guha, the lead author of the study, and her collaborators improved the methods for making lead halide perovskites. Previous techniques for making these thin-film perovskites required liquid processing using solvents, which rendered the films susceptible to degradation when exposed to air. Additionally, with  prior manufacturing processes, one of its molecules undergoes a change to its structure, causing performance limitations in real-world operating conditions. 
With the new technique, the researchers were able to prevent the change, holding the affected molecule in a stable structure throughout a large temperature range. Additionally, the new technique rendered the perovskite air stable, making it appropriate for a potential solar cell. 

China's GCL Photoelectric Materials, a subsidiary of GCL TECH, announced the completion of RMB 500 million (around USD$72,000,000) B+ round of financing, which was jointly led by Temasek, Sequoia China, and IDG Capital, followed by Longwater Investment and other institutions.

It was reported that this round of financing will be used to improve the process and equipment development of the 100MW perovskite module production line of GCL Photoelectric Materials.

This is a sponsored post by MBRAUN

The potential of perovskites

Over the past decade, perovskites solar cells have attracted tremendous interest from the academic community, becoming a leading photovoltaic trend. Advances in the fundamental understanding of perovskites’ chemical and physical processes made them an attractive class of material for many researchers. In parallel, engineering developments on the architecture and fabrication methods of perovskite-based solar cells are becoming increasingly interesting for the PV industry.

Processing of perovskites

In general, three main types of perovskites processes can be distinguished – the fully vacuum-processed, the fully ambient processed and the hybrid type. For each process, MBRAUN can offer dedicated equipment solutions which will be showed in outline in the following paragraphs.

On one hand vacuum-based methods convince due to high-quality thin films, leading to the best device performance but are but are also characterized by comparatively high investment and operating costs. On the other hand, solution-processing techniques, like spin coating or slot-die coating also produce good-quality layers but excel at significantly lower investment and operation costs.

Comparison of wet and vacuum coating

South Korea-based Qcells and a European research group (led by Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin (HZB)) have jointly established a pilot manufacturing line for silicon-perovskite tandem cells in Thalheim, Germany. The project aims to speed up the technology’s mass manufacturing and market penetration. The project began on 1 November.

The so-called "Pepperoni project" will establish a pilot manufacturing line in Thalheim, Qcell’s headquarters in Germany. The name stems from the broader project titled ‘Pilot line for European Production of PEROvskite-Silicon taNdem modules on Industrial scale' or PEPPERONI.