Energy

New hybrid perovskite solar cell boasts long life and high efficiency

Scientists in China have developed a new perovskite solar cell that's stable in the elements, with a high efficiency
Scientists in China have developed a new perovskite solar cell that's stable in the elements, with a high efficiency

In the world of solar cell technology, perovskite materials are poised to take on the current reigning champion silicon, but their stability is holding them back. Now, scientists in China have developed a new type of hybrid perovskite that boasts a very good efficiency over a long life.

Silicon has been the go-to material for solar cells for decades, but the tech is beginning to bump up against its theoretical efficiency cap of just under 30%. Perovskite has emerged in the last 15 years or so as a promising challenger, with its efficiency rapidly approaching that of silicon, while also being cheaper, lighter and more flexible.

But as with everything, there’s a catch: perovskite is vulnerable under exposure to the elements, and tends to break down quickly. That’s of course not ideal for products designed to sit outside in direct Sun every day, so finding ways to stabilize the material is important.

Scientists from Zhejiang University in China have now developed a sturdy new type of perovskite solar cell. The new design uses a structure they call a high entropy hybrid perovskite (HEHP), which essentially combines ordered inorganic layers and disordered organic layers, which boosts its resistance to water and heat stress. In tests, the cells maintained 98% of their efficiency after 1,000 hours of light exposure, and is calculated to follow that same trajectory for more than 5,000 hours. That initial efficiency reached 25.7%, which is respectable for many solar cell types.

The team says this particular perovskite material should be applicable to a variety of different cell architectures. Along with other protective coatings and additives in the works, giving them a longer life could really take the brakes off perovskite solar cells.

The research was published in the journal Nature Photonics.

Source: Zhejiang University via PV Magazine

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5 comments
rgbatduke
While I'm optimistic about perovskites, I'm unimpressed with 5000 hours. That's just over a year of daylight. Nobody is going to put panels with a lifetime (at 90% or better of initial (decent) efficiency) on their roof or on their solar farm panels of less than a decade (one barely amortizes the initial investment to a positive ROI) by then) and really, two or more decades is the real goal. Doing this at costs of under $1 per peak output watt is all that really matters -- not "efficiency" per se, but cost efficiency. Perovskites keep coming in competitive in nominal efficiency, but without anything close to the required staying power, and this is really no exception.
TechGazer
What would be the practical lifespan of a panel? A power company or home consumer doesn't care about efficiency numbers that look impressive after 40 days; they care about the lifetime kwh/cost. Even if the initial price of the panel is low, if the lifespan is too low, the additional costs of physical replacement might be too high.
paul314
How much would it cost to put a layer of these perovskites on just about anything? Think of all the transient stuff in the world -- billboards, covers for construction scaffolding, cheap umbrellas -- if the thing is only going to last for a few years anyway, then just throw a cheap layer of solar collector on it and get something better than zero in renewable energy.
quax
Have to agree with the previous comments. If these cells lose 2% capacity every 1000 hours that'll reduce them to half the initial power output within six years. That's not good enough for residential use. Now if they were dirt cheap and the number can be brought up to ten years with additional measures it could find a niche.
Karmudjun
Thanks Michael for the nice write-up. I wish you had asked a few questions that were not addressed. Since silicon Solar Cells lose 2.5% avg efficiency the first year, and then drop an average of 0.5% subsequent years, would this be the same with perovskite cells? So cynically extrapolating from 1000 hours or even 5000 hours data is useless, right? Now what about recycling - with the HEHP cells be easier or harder to recycle than silicon? Apparently this is a "new" breakthrough in Perovskite cell manufacturing, but clearly it is not ready to scale up - when it is, what will it cost per kWh/m2? In 2020, this article https://www.nature.com/articles/s41560-020-0598-5 demonstrated a 47% efficient silicon based expensive solar cell. It is all about the cost benefit Michael, not these little incremental breakthroughs!