Chinese scientists boost perovskite solar cell efficiency
- A team of researchers have developed the most efficient version yet of the technology, which could provide a low-cost source of solar power
- A reviewer for the journal Nature says the team’s ‘new approach’ achieved a ‘very meaningful result in this field’
Chinese researchers say they have developed a new form of solar cells that not only have greater efficiency but can also be mass-produced at half the cost of traditional silicon cells.
Scientists around the world have been working on this technology for more than a decade and in just a few years, the power-conversion efficiency (PCE) of perovskite cells has soared from 3.8 to over 25 per cent.
In the latest advance a team from Nanjing University, led by Professor Tan Hairen, used a layered solar cell structure to achieve higher energy conversion rates.
Tan’s team has been studying this technology extensively. Their small-area perovskite stacked cells achieved a conversion efficiency of 28 per cent last June, as certified by the internationally authoritative Solar Cell Efficiency Tables, surpassing traditional silicon cells for the first time.