HZB

Scientists in Germany investigated printing processes for perovskite solar cells, making some important conclusions for the development of inks suitable for the deposition of perovskite cell materials onto a substrate.

Scientists in Europe took a very close look at the thin amorphous silicon layers used in heterojunction and tandem solar cells, building a full picture of the material’s structure at the nanoscale. Their findings could help scientists solve the long-standing mystery of light induced degradation.

Researchers in Germany are scaling up efforts to bring perovskite-silicon tandem solar cell technology into industrial scale production. The scientists say manufacturing cells of that kind is possible on widely-available six-inch silicon wafers and modular systems are being designed to do so at scale.

The EU-funded Nextbase project aims to manufacture heterojunction, interdigitated back-contact solar modules for less than €0.275/W. Solar panels featuring the Nextbase cell tech are expected to have a conversion efficiency of 23.2%, according to the European Commission.

Scientists in Germany and China have developed an additive which greatly improved the performance of a tin-based perovskite solar cell. Cells fabricated with the additive reached 9.1% efficiency, and the researchers say their work opens up many new possibilities to improve the performance of lead-free perovskites.

Scientists at Germany’s Helmholtz Zentrum Berlin have made a discovery they say could greatly increase the energy storage capacity of titanium-based ‘MXene’ pseudocapacitors, ultimately leading to faster-charging batteries. The group found adding urea molecules between MXene layers increased the material’s storage capacity by up to 56%.

The research group that developed the cell said the two materials used to produce it, dubbed 2PACz and MeO-2PACz, will soon be commercially available. The material consists of 1-2nm of self-assembled monolayers deposited on the surface of the perovskite by dipping it into a diluted solution.

Scientists from the Helmholtz Zentrum Berlin research institute this morning presented a new world record efficiency for a tandem cell combining CIGS and perovskite technology at the EU PVSEC conference in Marseille. The development of an organic coating layer between the two semiconductors was key.

The German researchers were able to improve the efficiency through a simplified production process.

The €2.5 million EU Horizon 2020 project coordinated by HZB tests materials to stabilize a membrane for photovoltaic-based hydrogen production.