Researchers accomplish 'pivotal step' on quest to create new-age solar panels: 'We are honored to contribute'
The findings were published in Optical and Quantum Electronics.
Solar panels are made of individual solar photovoltaic cells, or solar cells, which contain the technology to convert the photons from sunlight into electricity.
According to the Department of Energy, the main semiconductor material favored and used in most solar cells is silicon due to the element's abundance on Earth and silicon's high efficiency in converting light into energy. Silicon solar cells dominate the market, representing 95% of all solar modules sold.
An up-and-coming type of solar cell is perovskite cells — a type of thin-film solar cell "built with layers of materials that are printed, coated, or vacuum-deposited onto an underlying support layer, known as the substrate," per the Department of Energy. These layers help the solar cell absorb light, separate charge particles, and create an electrical circuit, allowing electricity to flow.
The potential to create perovskite layers with printing technology makes this solar cell economically attractive for the solar industry, helping to lower solar production costs. Perovskite solar cells are also highly efficient at converting light into energy — comparable to silicon cell technology.
It's why scientists have been iterating this thin-film solar in the lab, achieving over 20% improved efficiency progress in the last decade.
One flaw, however, is that the most common type of perovskite used in perovskite solar cells is lead halide perovskites, according to Solar Magazine.
Lead halide perovskites can contaminate the environment, leaching lead into the ground, and affect plants and crops, affecting local ecosystems and the larger food chain. Lead toxicity in humans can lead to anemia and high blood pressure in adults, and interfere with brain development and hearing in children.
Motivated to replace lead halide perovskites with an alternative and sustainable material, the researchers at the Autonomous University of Querétaro toyed with a chalcogenide perovskite — (Ca,Ba)ZrS3 — composed of calcium (Ca), barium (Ba), zirconium (Zr), and sulfur (S).
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This perovskite has strong thermal and chemical stability, as relayed by Tech Xplore, and has a bandgap that can be fine-tuned to fall within the "sweet spot" for solar energy — reaching 1.26 eV. The ideal bandgap range for photovoltaic material is 1 - 1.8 eV, according to a Joule article.
The researchers paired this perovskite with advanced inorganic spinel hole transport layers, which help move positively charged particles, or "holes," in solar cells to where they need to go in the electrical circuit to produce the flow of electricity.
Testing the performance of this perovskite solar cell, the researchers found that they were able to improve the power conversion efficiency "to an impressive rate of over 34% by meticulously engineering layer thickness, carrier concentration, and interface properties."
Feasible perovskite solar cells could drastically lower the production cost for solar, passing on the cheaper rate to consumers and making cleaner energy more accessible.
Transitioning to solar also helps reduce global dependence on dirty energy, which contributes to heat-trapping gases that raise global temperatures and cause extreme weather events. Accessible solar will also improve air quality, which lowers the risk of respiratory illnesses and related health issues.
"The future of solar energy is being reshaped, and we are honored to contribute to this promising transformation," said Latha Marasamy, one of the study's researchers.
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