Researchers at the Australian Centre for Advanced Photovoltaics have discovered a new material that just might lead the way into a world of advanced, inexpensive, and highly efficient solar cells.
According to Tech Xplore, chalcogenide perovskite could be "the next frontier in solar technology."
Solar power will increasingly be part of the clean-energy matrix the world desperately needs in the very near future. Unfortunately, typical silicon solar cells have just about reached or are at least approaching the limit of how much sunlight they can efficiently convert into electricity, according to Tech Xplore.
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Energy independence ⚡ But scientists can boost how much light solar cells can take in by stacking the cells in two layers, called a tandem solar cell. These are composed of one layer of silicon and one layer made of a companion material that absorbs light at a different wavelength than the silicon. As a pair, they can absorb more light than a single silicon layer. There's a problem, though: Few materials can be manufactured to be as pure as silicon, and tiny imperfections in a solar cell ruin its efficiency.
That's where chalcogenide perovskite comes in.
Halide perovskite solar cells have been around for a few years now. They're solar cells with a unique chemical composition that is incredibly efficient at converting solar energy. But they have significant drawbacks: they're useless outside because they break down under the relentless heat of the sun, and they usually contain toxic materials like lead.
Chalcogenide perovskite, however, is non-toxic, more durable than halide perovskite, and is just as efficient.
According to a paper published in Communications Materials, when silicon is paired with chalcogenide perovskite in a tandem solar cell, it boosts efficiency by 38 percent. That could make it possible to produce significantly more energy than is possible with silicon solar cells.
It won't be easy, however. "Thermodynamics is a two-way road," Alireza Yaghoubi, lead author of the paper, told Tech Xplore. "If something is so stable that it won't easily break down, it also means it is very difficult to make in the first place."
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