‘Ultra-thin solar coating’ could end phone charging crisis

The researchers designed solar cells that are 150 times thinner than available silicon-based panels, without sacrificing any of their power-generating capabilities. The resulting material is more than one micron (0.001 mm) thick.

In the study, Oxford University researchers created a new photovoltaic material (capable of converting sunlight into energy) from perovskite structures, which are synthetic versions of natural calcium titanium oxide that can be made relatively cheaply in laboratories or factories.

Perovskite produces an electrical charge in the presence of sunlight, like silicon (the most common material used in solar cells).

While perovskite has tremendous potential, researchers have struggled to make it last more than a few months, especially since it is particularly susceptible to damage from high humidity and can break down after exposure to air via volatile chemical reactions.

Over time, the researchers found that perovskite stability could be maintained in layered structures such as tandem cells, which combine perovskite and silicon cells.

The Oxford team chose a “multi-junction” approach, in which multiple light-sensitive layers corresponding to different wavelengths of light are combined, to improve the light sensitivity of the solar material overall.

The resulting thin film was 27% efficient at converting sunlight into energy, compared to about 22% efficiency for silicon panels on the market today.

“We can envision applying perovskite coatings to a wider range of surfaces to generate cheap solar power, such as the roofs of cars, buildings and even mobile phones,” Junqi Wang, a professor of physics at the University of Oxford, said in a statement. “If more solar power can be generated this way, we can expect that in the long term there will be less need to use silicon panels or build more and more solar farms.”

Source: Live Science