ANU Research Claims Major breakthrough in Next Generation Solar Cell Technology

The new study led by a team of researchers from the Australian National University (ANU) has revealed thata combination of silicon and perovskite could make solar PV generation cheaper and efficient. 

Members of both the universities, i.e. ANU and California Institute of Technology joined hands to carry out the research. Teams from both the universities have been working on Tandem solar cells. Tandem solar cells are believed to boost solar energy usage and efficiency.

The main goal of the research is to produce solar electricity at a lower cost and boost silicon PV in terms of power conversion efficiency.

The Australian Energy Agency sponsored the study as a part of a project in partnership with Monash University and UNSW.

The researchers found that joining two materials in a tandem pattern can be a hard task, but it’s not impossible and once the task is done, the efficiency of the solar cells increases rapidly.

According to the researchers, their method for the research is one of the simplest ever developed.  The new method has the capability to cut down waste and simplify the structure of solar cells, probably making it budget friendly and easier to produce.

The teams managed to produce 2 proof of concept. The devices that function without a conventional interlayer between their subcells are 2-T perovskite/Si tandem.

“Jointly, our work highlights the potential of emerging perovskite photovoltaic to enable low-cost, high-efficiency tandem devices through straightforward integration with commercially relevant and emerging Si solar cells,” quoted by the team.