Quantum-size-tuned heterostructures enable efficient and stable inverted perovskite solar cells

Stable and efficient non-silicon solar cells

30 November 2022

Non-silicon-based solar cells have been made that are both highly efficient and stable.

Most solar cells on the market today are based on silicon, but researchers are exploring cheaper, less-energy-intensive technologies. Among them, so-called perovskite solar cells are one of the most promising.

Although perovskite solar cells convert sunlight into electricity at high efficiencies, their efficiency tends to drop off rapidly with use. One way around this problem is to invert the usual device structure, but that lowers the conversion efficiency.

Now, by exploiting quantum-mechanical principles, a team led by researchers from ShanghaiTech University in China has overcome this problem. Specifically, they optimized the width of the perovskite layer in their device.

Doing this allowed them to realize a solar cell that was 24% efficient and that retained 92% of this efficiency after 500 hours of operation at elevated temperature.

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References

1. Nature Photonics 16, 352–358 (2022). doi: 10.1038/s41566-022-00985-1