A major development has just struck the photovoltaic industry: perovskite–silicon tandem solar cells.
Photovoltaic cells — or solar cells — are, of course, devices that convert sunlight into electricity, found in solar panels and full-scale converters.
For the past five years, six institutes within the Germany-based Fraunhofer Society have collaborated on a project called "MaNiTU" to identify a sustainable and affordable way to market tandem solar cells manufactured using scalable processes, as reported by Tech Xplore.
They produced new materials using perovskite — a mineral made of calcium and titanium oxides with a specific crystal structure suitable for use in energy technologies like solar — and compared them with existing materials used at the cell level, finding that higher energy efficiency was more common with perovskite structures.
By then fabricating demonstrators such as a perovskite–silicon tandem solar cell, they created a production and recycling process perfect for producing a highly efficient and sustainable product.
Now, they can lace a high-quality perovskite thin film onto industrially textured silicon solar cells, achieving a fully textured perovskite–silicon tandem solar cell with 31.6% efficiency on a one-square-centimeter cell area.
"In particular, the scalable, semi-continuous perovskite synthesis in powder form using spray drying was shown to be a suitable screening method for a variety of compounds and their potential synthesis," said Dr. Benedikt Schug, head of particle technology at the Fraunhofer Institute for Silicate Research ISC, per Tech Xplore.
"This method can also be applied to industry-relevant quantities," he continued.
In other words, this process will allow for the industrial-scale production of small-sized solar cells that are highly efficient in their power capacity. Thousands will be produced frequently for use in solar panel production across Europe.
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The cost of installation 💵 Although the only downside to using perovskite compounds is that they contain high lead levels, the researchers are currently investigating non-toxic alternatives and have found ways to recycle perovskite cells, ensuring consistent long-term reusability.
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