Scientists at Princeton University in New Jersey have managed to build the first perovskite solar cell with a genuinely competitive lifespan compared to conventional solar technology. This marks a giant leap forward for an emerging class of renewable energy technology.
Is perovskite the future of solar panel technology? (Image Credit: Clever Stock via Shutterstock / HDR tune by Universal-Sci)
The team estimates that their new perovskite-based technology will outperform industry standards for about 30 years, significantly longer than the 20 years used as a benchmark for solar cell viability.
Not only is the newly developed technology extremely robust, but it also fulfills industry efficiency criteria. It's the first of its sort capable of competing with the performance of conventional silicon-based cells, which have monopolized the market since the mid-1950s when they were introduced.
Perovskite solar cells
Perovskites are a class of materials with a crystal structure that follows a specific formula. The class of materials is named after a mineral in which this specific structure was first discovered, called perovskite. The mineral, in its turn, was named after a Russian mineralogist L.A. Perovski after it was discovered in the Ural mountains.
Perovskite solar cells are a type of solar cell based on a perovskite-structured compound. It is an ideal compound for solar cell technology as cells based on this compound can be produced at room temperatures, using significantly less silicon and energy.
The name "perovskite solar cell" is derived from the ABX3 crystal structure of the absorber materials, referred to as perovskite structure - (Image Credit: Christopher Eames et al. via Wikimedia Commons)
Another benefit of using perovskites in solar panels is the fact that it is flexible and transparent, whereas conventional silicon is rigid and opaque. The aforementioned characteristics provide perovskite solar cells with the potential to be much more efficient.
Drawbacks of Perovskite solar cells
Sadly, perovskite comes with a significant drawback as well. The material is notoriously fragile, negatively affecting the short- and long-term stability of solar cells.
In fact, ten years ago, the first solar cells based on perovskite lasted for just a few minutes. The Princeton team, however, managed to achieve an operational lifetime of five years under extreme laboratory conditions with their current prototype, which is five times longer than the previous record of one year and an absolute far cry from its early beginnings.
The team developed a new testing method that speeds up the aging process by illuminating the device while blasting it with heat. Using this method, scientists can speed up what would happen naturally over years of everyday exposure.
Consequently, the team calculated the device's performance at room temperature over tens of thousands of hours of continuous illumination, extrapolating from the combined data of several experiments.
The results revealed a device that would function above 80 percent of its peak efficiency under constant illumination for at least five years at an average temperature of 35 degrees Celcius.
According to the researchers, that's the lab equivalent of 30 years of outdoor operation in an area like New Jersey, using standard conversion norms.
The team published their findings in the peer-reviewed journal Science, listed below for those who would like to find out more.
Sources and further reading:
Accelerated aging of all-inorganic, interface-stabilized perovskite solar cells - (Science)
Perovskite solar cell - (Clean Energy Institute)
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