A research team from Saudi Arabia’s King Abdullah University of Science and Technology has developed a durable Perovskite PV cell with a conversion rate reaching 21.09%, marking a major breakthrough for the emerging technology.
Perovskite PV cells have long been regarded as the dark horse of the PV industry; they are known to have several key advantages over the other types of PV cells, such as lower costs and ease of processing. They are also known to have much better optical and transmission properties. However, when it comes to the overall performance and conversion efficiency, these types of PV cells have a tendency to be relatively less stable. According to the research team, this is mainly due to the property of the cell’s poly-crystalline thin films, which are known to be “highly disordered and defective.”
To resolve their conversion efficiency issues, the research team from KAUST has decided to develop an improved version of the existing Perovskite PV cells by using single crystalline films instead of poly-crystalline films. A single-crystalline film, according to the research team, would be able to outperform a poly-crystalline film in crystallization quality, light absorption scope, and thermal stability. As it boasts a purity of 99.9999% , it would also be able to boost the PV cell’s overall conversion rates and commercial value.
Recently, the team from KAUST has already managed to develop a new kind of MAPbI3 perovskite PV cell which uses a special single-crystalline perovskite that is produced via inverse-temperature crystal growth technology.
The MAPbI3perovskite, which is 20 micrometers thick, was subject to copper treatment for use in producing PV cells that are 1mm² thick, with the conversion rate reaching 21.09%.
It remains to be seen whether the high conversion rate of the MAPbI3perovskite PV cell can be retained following the enlargement of its size, which is necessary for commercialization.
The result of the study of KAUST can be seen in “ACS Energy Letters.”
(Collaborate media: TechNews, first photo courtesy of Steve Rainwater via Flickr CC BY-SA 2.0)