{"id":15075,"date":"2022-05-09T09:44:37","date_gmt":"2022-05-09T07:44:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ggba.swiss\/epfl-scientists-improve-the-efficiency-of-solar-cells\/"},"modified":"2023-07-04T13:40:33","modified_gmt":"2023-07-04T11:40:33","slug":"epfl-scientists-improve-the-efficiency-of-solar-cells","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ggba.swiss\/en\/epfl-scientists-improve-the-efficiency-of-solar-cells\/","title":{"rendered":"EPFL scientists improve the efficiency of solar cells"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Solar cells made of silicon are used widely but have limited power-conversion yields. These yields will likely top out at around 27% in the foreseeable future, owing to fundamental thermodynamic limitations. Modules incorporating these solar cells will have maximum yields of around 23\u201325%.<\/p>\n<p>However, these limitations can be overcome by combining silicon with a complementary solar cell that absorbs the blue-green part of the solar spectrum and employs it more efficiently, forming what\u2019s called a &#8220;tandem&#8221;. Among the different materials that can be used for the tandem, halide perovskites have recently shown to be the best suited for boosting the efficiency of silicon without adding substantial fabrication costs.<\/p>\n<p>In Neuch\u00e2tel, scientists at the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.epfl.ch\/about\/campus\/neuchatel-en\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">EPFL<\/a>\u2019s Photovoltaics and Thin Film Electronics Laboratory (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.epfl.ch\/labs\/pvlab\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">PV-lab<\/a>) developed a method to grow perovskite layers on textured silicon in a uniform manner. The researchers have enhanced the perovskite crystallization process and developed highly transparent window layers, resulting in tandem solar cells with an efficiency of 29.2% on a surface of 1 cm<sup>2<\/sup>.<\/p>\n<p>This yield was certified independently by the Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.ise.fraunhofer.de\/en.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Fraunhofer ISE<\/a>) in Germany, and sets a new world record for a fully textured perovskite-silicon device.<\/p>\n<h4>High promise to cut energy transition costs<\/h4>\n<p>The research team already sees a clear path to achieving yields of beyond 30% by taking advantage of the high current provided by the silicon texture.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSeveral years of R&amp;D are still needed to bring such technology and manufacturing processes to market,\u201d said Christophe Ballif, Head of EPFL\u2019s PV-lab. \u201cA big challenge will be developing solar cells that can remain stable on our rooftops for more than 25 years. But the higher efficiency we demonstrated without changing the front texture will be very attractive for the photovoltaics industry.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The discovery shows high promise to cut the power generation cost per kWh, by producing more energy in the same area.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>EPFL scientists in Neuch\u00e2tel have developed a tandem solar cell that can deliver a certified efficiency of 29.2% by combining a perovskite solar cell with a textured silicon solar cell.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":15076,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"mc4wp_mailchimp_campaign":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[853],"tags":[936,904,899],"class_list":["post-15075","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-cleantech-en","tag-energy","tag-solar-energy","tag-sustainability"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.2 - 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