{"id":79030,"date":"2022-01-29T02:02:00","date_gmt":"2022-01-29T01:02:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.sonnenseite.com\/?p=79030"},"modified":"2022-01-29T11:23:23","modified_gmt":"2022-01-29T10:23:23","slug":"new-technique-boosts-efficiency-sustainability-of-large-scale-perovskite-solar-cells","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.sonnenseite.com\/en\/science\/new-technique-boosts-efficiency-sustainability-of-large-scale-perovskite-solar-cells\/","title":{"rendered":"New Technique Boosts Efficiency, Sustainability of Large-Scale Perovskite Solar Cells"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
An international team of researchers has demonstrated a technique for producing perovskite photovoltaic materials on an industrial scale, which will reduce the cost and improve the performance of mass-produced perovskite solar cells.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The technique is low-cost, simple, energy-efficient, and should pave the way for creating perovskite solar cells. Perovskite is of interest for solar cells because it absorbs light very efficiently. This allows for the creation of lightweight, flexible solar cells that can be incorporated into a range of technologies, such as the windows of buildings or vehicles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIn the lab, researchers produce perovskite photovoltaic materials using a technique called spin coating, which creates a thin film of perovskite on a substrate \u2013 but only on a small scale,\u201d says Aram Amassian, co-corresponding author of a paper on the work and a professor of materials science and engineering at North Carolina State University.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe\u2019re talking about sample substrates that are only one or two centimeters square. However, people didn\u2019t think it was possible to scale spin-coating up for manufacturing, using substrates that are tens of centimeters square. Instead, people have opted for a variety of other methods. But these other methods produce perovskite photovoltaics that don\u2019t perform as well as the thin films made using spin coating and required significant research and development.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWhat we\u2019ve done here is demonstrate that you can produce perovskite photovoltaics on larger substrates using spin coating by designing a co-solvent dilution strategy,\u201d says Michael Gr\u00e4tzel, co-corresponding author of the paper and a professor at \u00c9cole Polytechnique F\u00e9d\u00e9rale de Lausanne. \u201cIn other words, you can scale up production of photovoltaics and preserve the excellent performance of almost any type of perovskite thin film produced using spin coating.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Historically, people thought spin coating could not be used to produce perovskite photovoltaics on industrial-scale substrates in a material-efficient way because of the nature of both spin coating and perovskites.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Spin coating involves placing a liquid on the surface of a substrate and then spinning the substrate, so that the liquid material spreads across the surface. However, when perovskite is applied using this technique, the solvents that keep the perovskite in a liquid state don\u2019t evaporate quickly enough. This causes much of the perovskite to fly off the edges, meaning a lot of the perovskite material is wasted. It also results in irregular thickness of the perovskite on the surface, as well as some areas of the perovskite taking longer than others to dry. All of which is problematic from a manufacturing standpoint.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cOur approach tackles this challenge by introducing a co-solvent that allows the liquid perovskite to spread evenly and dry very quickly and uniformly,\u201d says Hong Zhang of \u00c9cole Polytechnique F\u00e9d\u00e9rale de Lausanne, who is a co-lead author on the paper.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The new technique also significantly reduces waste and, by extension, reduces toxic byproducts associated with manufacturing perovskite photovoltaics.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe beauty of this technique is that many industries already use spin coating technologies to produce all sorts of products,\u201d says Aldo Di Carlo, co-corresponding author of the paper and a professor at the University of Rome Tor Vergata. \u201cOur work demonstrates that these existing technologies could be used to create perovskite solar cells. This could really accelerate the production and deployment of perovskite solar panels and cells.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Collaborators on the demonstration project are already using the new technique to produce modules that are tens of centimeters across with excellent uniformity and performance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cMy team is now focused on using process automation and artificial intelligence to build on this work and further improve efficiency, stability and sustainability of perovskite photovoltaics,\u201d Amassian says. \u201cWe\u2019re hoping to work with public and private sector interests on finding ways to implement this work and accelerate the development of perovskite solar cell technologies.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n