technology
Fix in a manufacturing step of perovskite solar cells paves the way for commercialization of the high-performance, sunlight-to-electricity discovery
Date:
March 15, 2022
Source:
University of California - Los Angeles
Summary:
Materials scientists have discovered the major reason why
perovskite solar cells -- which show great promise for improved
energy-conversion efficiency -- degrade in sunlight, causing
their performance to suffer over time. The team successfully
demonstrated a simple manufacturing adjustment to fix the cause of
the degradation, clearing the biggest hurdle toward the widespread
adoption of the thin-film solar cell technology.
FULL STORY ========================================================================== Materials scientists at the UCLA Samueli School of Engineering and
colleagues from five other universities around the world have discovered
the major reason why perovskite solar cells -- which show great promise
for improved energy- conversion efficiency -- degrade in sunlight,
causing their performance to suffer over time. The team successfully demonstrated a simple manufacturing adjustment to fix the cause of the degradation, clearing the biggest hurdle toward the widespread adoption
of the thin-film solar cell technology.
==========================================================================
A research paper detailing the findings was published today inNatureas
an early access paper. The research is led by Yang Yang, a UCLA Samueli professor of materials science and engineering and holder of the Carol
and Lawrence E.
Tannas, Jr., Endowed Chair. The co-first authors are Shaun Tan and Tianyi Huang, both recent UCLA Samueli Ph.D. graduates whom Yang advised.
Perovskites are a group of materials that have the same atomic arrangement
or crystal structure as the mineral calcium titanium oxide. A subgroup
of perovskites, metal halide perovskites, are of great research interest because of their promising application for energy-efficient, thin-film
solar cells.
Perovskite-based solar cells could be manufactured at much lower costs
than their silicon-based counterparts, making solar energy technologies
more accessible if the commonly known degradation under long exposure
to illumination can be properly addressed.
"Perovskite-based solar cells tend to deteriorate in sunlight much faster
than their silicon counterparts, so their effectiveness in converting
sunlight to electricity drops over the long term," said Yang, who is
also a member of the California NanoSystems Institute at UCLA. "However,
our research shows why this happens and provides a simple fix. This
represents a major breakthrough in bringing perovskite technology to commercialization and widespread adoption." A common surface treatment
used to remove solar cell defects involves depositing a layer of organic
ions that makes the surface too negatively charged. The UCLA-led team
found that while the treatment is intended to improve energy-conversion efficiency during the fabrication process of perovskite solar cells, it
also unintentionally creates a more electron-rich surface -- a potential
trap for energy-carrying electrons.
==========================================================================
This condition destabilizes the orderly arrangement of atoms, and over
time, the perovskite solar cells become increasingly less efficient,
ultimately making them unattractive for commercialization.
Armed with this new discovery, the researchers found a way to address
the cells' long-term degradation by pairing the positively charged ions
with negatively charged ones for surface treatments. The switch enables
the surface to be more electron-neutral and stable, while preserving
the integrity of the defect-prevention surface treatments.
The team tested the endurance of their solar cells in a lab under
accelerated aging conditions and 24/7 illumination designed to
mimic sunlight. The cells managed to retain 87% of their original sunlight-to-electricity conversion performance for more than 2,000
hours. For comparison, solar cells manufactured without the fix dropped
to 65% of their original performance after testing over the same time
and conditions.
"Our perovskite solar cells are among the most stable in efficiency
reported to date," Tan said. "At the same time, we've also laid new foundational knowledge, on which the community can further develop and
refine our versatile technique to design even more stable perovskite
solar cells." The other corresponding authors on the paper are Rui
Wang, an assistant professor of engineering at Westlake University in
Hangzhou, China; and Jin- Wook Lee, an assistant professor of engineering
at Sungkyunkwan University in Suwon, South Korea. Both Wang and Lee are previous UCLA postdoctoral researchers advised by Yang.
Researchers from UC Irvine; Marmara University, Turkey; and National
Yang Ming Chiao Tung University, Taiwan, also contributed to the paper.
The research was supported by the U.S. Department of Energy's Office of
Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy.
========================================================================== Story Source: Materials provided by
University_of_California_-_Los_Angeles. Note: Content may be edited for
style and length.
========================================================================== Journal Reference:
1. Shaun Tan, Tianyi Huang, Ilhan Yavuz, Rui Wang, Tae Woong Yoon,
Mingjie
Xu, Qiyu Xing, Keonwoo Park, Do-Kyoung Lee, Chung-Hao Chen,
Ran Zheng, Taegeun Yoon, Yepin Zhao, Hao-Cheng Wang, Dong Meng,
Jingjing Xue, Young Jae Song, Xiaoqing Pan, Nam-Gyu Park, Jin-Wook
Lee, Yang Yang. Stability- limiting heterointerfaces of perovskite
photovoltaics. Nature, 2022; DOI: 10.1038/s41586-022-04604-5 ==========================================================================
Link to news story:
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2022/03/220315141803.htm
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