New material for solar panels

Traditional solar cells are made from silicon, which can be limiting in terms of manufacturing costs and efficiency issues. However, a new alternative material, called perovskite, has recently produced some promising results. The challenge, however, with perovskite solar cells is that they require a process called annealing, which involves heating the material to high temperatures for a long period of time; this makes it difficult to mass-produce the cells quickly and cheaply.

Scientists from Power Roll Limited, and the Universities of Sheffield and Oxford used Grazing Incidence Small Angle X-ray Scattering (GISAXS) at Diamond to investigate a new method to create perovskite solar cells without the need for annealing. They used a mixture of solvents that evaporate quickly, allowing them to create the perovskite layer at room temperature. They also used a gas-quenching method to quickly remove the solvents after deposition. The resulting solar cells were found to be highly efficient, with power conversion efficiencies of up to 18%.

The researchers also explored the use of a self-assembled layer to transport charge in the solar cell, without the need for annealing. By combining the two methods, they were able to create fully annealing-free perovskite solar cells with power conversion efficiencies of up to 17.1%. This new method provides a promising step towards mass-producing perovskite solar cells quickly and cheaply, using roll-to-roll processing, which could potentially make solar energy more affordable and accessible.

Take a look at the paper to find out more.