Perovskite is a hybrid organic-inorganic photovoltaic material that is not only cheap to produce but relatively easy to manufacture. As Digital Journal reported on May 23, technological innovation has succeeded in increasing perovskite’s efficiency to the point they compare with widely-used silicon.
Researchers found a way to overcome perovskite’s instability when in contact with water or even humidity, but getting a perovskite photovoltaic solar cell to meet market requirements was still out of reach until researchers at École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL) built what’s called a 2D/3D hybrid perovskite solar cell.
Their low-cost, ultra-efficient hybrid solar cell has operated for more than a year without loss of performance (11.2 percent efficiency). Their work was published in the journal Nature Communications on June 1, 2017.
The lab of Mohammad Khaja Nazeeruddin at EPFL in collaboration with Michael Grätzel and Solaronix company engineered the solar cell by fabricating the enhanced stability of 2D perovskites with 3D forms, creating a composite. Doing so allowed the cell to absorb light across the entire visible spectrum efficiently and transport electrical charges.
This was a crucial step toward large-scale commercialization. According to the research paper, “the 2D/3D perovskite yields efficiencies of 12.9 percent (carbon-based architecture), and 14.6 percent (standard mesoporous solar cells).”
It looks like the problem with perovskite solar cell stability has been answered, and this will only lead to further innovations and large-scale production.
