Perovskite/silicon tandem solar cells on the threshold of 30% efficiency chemeurope.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from chemeurope.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
14 December 2020, 4:06 am EST By
Researchers are now close to reaching their long-term target of over 30% solar cell efficiency for the perovskite/silicon tandem solar cell category. At 29.15%, it surpassed the current solar cell efficiency world record of 28%.
According to a press statement from Helmholtz Zentrum Berlin (HZB), the HZB development team led by Bernd Stannowski and Steve Albrecht already received official certification for the recent value from the CalLab of the Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems (ISE).
New tandem solar cell efficiency world record
Improving the solar cell efficiency of can highly increase the energy produced using the same surface area and similar amount of sunshine, which eventually led to a new world record for the perovskite/silicon tandem solar cell. This category is just one of numerous types of cell technologies currently available for converting solar energy into electricity, according to Science Alert.
Tandem Solar Cells Provide Stable Performance, Deliver Maximum Efficiency
Written by AZoMDec 11 2020
Significantly greater efficiencies can be achieved by solar cells containing a pair of semiconductors with varying bandgaps when used in combination, compared to individual solar cells on their own.
The schematic structure of the tandem solar cell stack in 3D. Image Caption: Eike Koehnen/Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin.
This is because tandem cells make use of the solar spectrum in a more efficient way. Specifically, traditional silicon solar cells efficiently change the infrared components of light into electrical energy, whereas some perovskite compounds can effectively use the visible components of solar light, rendering this a robust combination.
Cheap perovskite tandem solar cell breaks new world record at 30% efficiency
The schematic structure of the tandem solar cell stack in 3D. Credit: Eike Koehnen/HZB.
A crystal known to science for more than a century has only in recent years become recognized for its use in harvesting solar power. Since the first successful usage of perovskite in solar cells in 2009, the advances in the field have grown exponentially. In just a few years of development, rated efficiency in the lab for perovskite solar cells soared from 3.8% to nearly 20%. Now, scientists at Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin (HZB) have paired perovskite with silicon in a hybrid solar cell that harvested photons with an impressive 29.15% efficiency a new world record that may propel the industry to new heights.
Credit: Eike Koehnen/HZB
Solar cells consisting of two semiconductors with differing band gaps can achieve considerably higher efficiencies when used in tandem compared to the individual cells on their own. This is because tandem cells use the solar spectrum more efficiently. In particular, conventional silicon solar cells primarily convert the infrared components of light efficiently into electrical energy, while certain perovskite compounds can effectively utilise the visible components of sunlight, making this a powerful combination.
In the beginning of 2020, a team headed by Prof. Steve Albrecht at the HZB broke the previous world record for tandem solar cells made of perovskite and silicon (28.0%, Oxford PV), setting a new world record of 29.15%. Compared to the highest certified and scientifically published efficiency (26.2% in DOI: 10,1126/science.aba3433), this is a giant step forward. The new value has been certified at Fraunhofer ISE and listed in the NREL chart (press