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High-performance solar flow battery powered by a perovskite/silicon tandem solar cell

Nature Materials volume 19, pages 1326–1331 (2020)Cite this article

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Abstract

The fast penetration of electrification in rural areas calls for the development of competitive decentralized approaches. A promising solution is represented by low-cost and compact integrated solar flow batteries; however, obtaining high energy conversion performance and long device lifetime simultaneously in these systems has been challenging. Here, we use high-efficiency perovskite/silicon tandem solar cells and redox flow batteries based on robust BTMAP-Vi/NMe-TEMPO redox couples to realize a high-performance and stable solar flow battery device. Numerical analysis methods enable the rational design of both components, achieving an optimal voltage match. These efforts led to a solar-to-output electricity efficiency of 20.1% for solar flow batteries, as well as improved device lifetime, solar power conversion utilization ratio and capacity utilization rate. The conceptual design strategy presented here also suggests general future optimization approaches for integrated solar energy conversion and storage systems.

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Fig. 1: Schematic design and solar performance of perovskite/silicon tandem solar cell.
Fig. 2: Calculation of SOEE as a function of Ecell0.
Fig. 3: Electrochemical characterization of redox couples and RFBs.
Fig. 4: Performance of integrated SFB built with perovskite/silicon solar cell and BTMAP-Vi/NMe-TEMPO redox couples.

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Data availability

Source data are provided with this paper. The remaining data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.

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Acknowledgements

This research is supported by the King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) Office of Sponsored Research (OSR) under award no. OSR-2017-CRG6-3453.02 to both J.-H.H. and S.J. The Australian Centre for Advanced Photovoltaics (ACAP) encompasses the Australian-based activities of the Australia–US Institute for Advanced Photovoltaics (AUSIAPV) and is supported by the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA). J.Z. and A.H.-B. thank ARENA for support via project 2014 RND075. T.L.L., B.H. and M.H. acknowledge the US National Science Foundation (CAREER Award, grant no. 1847674) and Utah State University faculty start-up fund for support. B.H. and M.H. are grateful for China Scholarship Council (CSC) Abroad Studying Fellowships to support their PhD study at Utah State University. We thank Z. Wu for help with FcNCl synthesis, and D. Roberts and X. Liu for help with NMR.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Chemistry, University of Wisconsin—Madison, Madison, WI, USA

    Wenjie Li, Hui-Chun Fu, Atilla Veyssal, Yuzhou Zhao & Song Jin

  2. Australian Centre for Advanced Photovoltaics, School of Photovoltaic and Renewable Energy Engineering, University of New South Wales (UNSW), Sydney, New South Wales, Australia

    Jianghui Zheng & Anita Ho-Baillie

  3. Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Utah State University, Logan, UT, USA

    Bo Hu, Maowei Hu & T. Leo Liu

  4. Division of Computer, Electrical and Mathematical Sciences and Engineering, King Abdullah University of Science and Technology, Thuwal, Saudi Arabia

    Jr-Hau He

  5. Department of Materials Science and Engineering, City University of Hong Kong, Kowloon, Hong Kong

    Jr-Hau He

  6. The University of Sydney Nano Institute, The University of Sydney, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia

    Anita Ho-Baillie

  7. School of Physics, The University of Sydney, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia

    Anita Ho-Baillie

Authors
  1. Wenjie Li
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Contributions

W.L. and S.J. designed the experiments. W.L. fabricated the SFB devices and carried out the electrochemical measurements with the help of H.-C.F. and A.V. W.L. and Y.Z. built the customized control device for SFB characterization. J.Z. and A.H.-B. fabricated the perovskite/silicon tandem solar cells. B.H., M.H. and T.L.L. synthesized the NMe-TEMPO and BTMAP-Vi redox couples. W.L. and S.J. wrote the manuscript and all authors commented on the manuscript.

Corresponding authors

Correspondence to Anita Ho-Baillie or Song Jin.

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Supplementary information

Supplementary Information

Supplementary Figs. 1–23, Notes 1–3 and Tables 1 and 2.

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Source data

Source Data Fig. 1

J-V performance of perovskite/silicon solar cell and photoelectrode.

Source Data Fig. 2

Numerical calculation of SOEE.

Source Data Fig. 3

Electrochemical characterization of redox couples and RFBs.

Source Data Fig. 4

Cycling performance of integrated SFB.

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Li, W., Zheng, J., Hu, B. et al. High-performance solar flow battery powered by a perovskite/silicon tandem solar cell. Nat. Mater. 19, 1326–1331 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41563-020-0720-x

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