Perovskites

Japan’s Sekisui Solar Film and the Netherlands’ TNO have signed a letter of intent to explore collaborations related to flexible perovskite solar PV. Talks will be initiated on a potential perovskite module factory in Brabant and the exchange of relevant information.

The Germany-based testing equipment manufacturer has launched mini-module testing equipment targeted at researchers working on scaling perovskite solar cell technology, thin film devices, and wafer-based PV.

An international team led by the U.S. National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) has used ionic salt for the electron transport layer of a perovskite solar cell to improve device stability and performance. Test results showed a 26% power conversion efficiency with 2% degradation after 2,100 hours of 1-sun operation at 65 C.

The Japanese automotive components and systems manufacturer began testing its proprietary organic perovskite solar modules in what will be a 30 kW outdoor field trial at one of its facilities in Anjo.

Researchers at the University of Queensland have developed a 2D/3D tin halide perovskite (THP) solar cell with a certified efficiency of 16.65% and peak performance of 17.13%, maintaining stable output under continuous illumination for over 1,500 hours.

The exclusive license agreement covers the manufacture or sale of perovskite PV products for the Chinese market. A statement from Oxford PV says the agreement “underscores the industry consensus that perovskite-based PV technologies are the future of solar.”

While many perovskite developers pursue a 2-terminal format, which poses design and production constraints, Caelux uses a 4-terminal approach that can reportedly help bypass technical challenges.

A team of researchers in China has demonstrated a novel dual-solvent process in 4-terminal carbon CsPbBr3 perovskite solar cells that achieve 10.18% power conversion efficiency. They have also built a large area 17.88 cm2 device achieving an 8.72% efficiency while retaining 93.2% of the initial performance after 1,000 hours of operation at 150 C.

German scientists believe that power generation for future habitats on the moon could be achieved by manufacturing halide perovskite cells locally, using regolith-based moonglass.

Scientists in the U.K. have used alumina oxide in perovskite solar cells to achieve lifetimes exceeding 1,300 h under standards-based heat and humidity testing. Their analysis showed that a reference cell based on conjugated polyelectrolytes degraded in one-tenth the time.