National Research Council of Science and Technology
A team of researchers from the Korea Institute of Materials Science (KIMS) in South Korea has developed an innovative technology for manufacturing flexible perovskite solar cells, that can be produced outdoors.
This achievement solves the problem of perovskite’s vulnerability to moisture, which has long limited the widespread commercial use of this material. The created solar cells demonstrate impressive durability. According to the results of in-service durability tests, the cells successfully retained more than 85% of their output power after 2800 hours of operation.
“This achievement demonstrates the technology of manufacturing perovskite solar cells without the need for expensive temperature and humidity controlled environments, and also demonstrates one of the highest levels of mechanical stability among flexible solar cells developed to date”, — the developers explain.
The flexible solar cells also demonstrated mechanical stability, retaining 96% of their initial efficiency after 10 thousand bends. According to the results of individual tests shear and slip resistance, the cells retained 87% efficiency.
Perovskite is currently the most promising alternative to silicon in solar cells. It has the advantage of absorbs sunlight and relatively inexpensive to manufacture in the form of thin, flexible films. However, its chemical instability in the presence of moisture required special conditions for its production. Perovskite is produced under low moisture conditions and in an inert gas atmosphere, which requires sophisticated and expensive equipment.
The Korean researchers also add that another challenge in the production of flexible perovskite was to maintain its mechanical strength. To solve this problem, the developers used the “defect blocking” approach. It consisted of placing the primary layer of perovskite between two protective layers of two-dimensional perovskite.
This allowed us to protect the key material and ensured that we could produce flexible perovskite at relative humidity levels of up to 50%. The ability to produce in the open air, without the need for strict environmental control, makes the production of this material significantly cheaper.
“Thanks to this technology, it is now possible to produce high-efficiency perovskite solar cells outdoors without expensive equipment, which significantly reduces production costs In particular, the exceptional durability of flexible devices makes them promising candidates for wearable electronics and vehicle-integrated solar power systems”, — emphasizes leading researcher at KIMS, Dr Dong-Chan Lim.
The researchers have already demonstrated the scalability of production on the example of a continuous production process on a large scale. This success is expected to drive growth in emerging markets for rolled solar cells and electronics integrated into clothing or vehicles.
Korean developers do not intend to stop at this achievement and plan to further develop materials for next-generation solar cells that will provide excellent durability under various conditions while reducing production costs.
Source: Interesting Engineering
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