11 May 2021
Australian researchers have demonstrated that new solar panel designs and manufacturing techniques have the potential to solve some of the key challenges of operating in high temperatures, showing that they not only produce more useful electricity but have longer operational lives thanks to their ability to beat the heat.
In new research published in the journal Progress in Photovoltaics, researchers at UNSW Sydney have shown that next-generation solar cell designs have the ability to achieve lower operating temperatures, allowing the cells to maintain higher efficiencies and slow down heat-related degradation.
Key to the improved performance is a combination of two features of next-generation solar cells – a technique called singlet fission and the production of tandem solar cells.
Researchers Discover Two New Ways for More Efficient Solar Power Generation
Written by AZoMMay 11 2021
Photovoltaics scientists from Australia have made a “cool” breakthrough: Tandem solar cells and singlet fission two creative methods to produce solar power more effectively also help to reduce operating temperatures and maintain devices running for a longer time.
Image Credit: Bilanol/Shutterstock.com
Tandem cells are made from a mixture of silicon, which is the most generally utilized photovoltaics material, and new compounds such as perovskite nanocrystals, which can have a bigger bandgap compared to silicon and assist the device to capture more of the solar spectrum for energy generation.
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Australian photovoltaics researchers have made a cool discovery: Singlet fission and tandem solar cells - two innovative ways to generate solar power more efficiently - also help to lower operating temperatures and keep devices running for longer.
Tandem cells can be made from a combination of silicon - the most commonly used photovoltaics material - and new compounds like perovskite nanocrystals, which can have a larger bandgap than silicon and help the device to capture more of the solar spectrum for energy generation.
Singlet fission, meanwhile, is a technique that produces twice the electronic charge carriers than normal for each photon of light that s absorbed. Tetracene is used in these devices to transfer the energy generated by singlet fission into silicon.
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