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Perovskite Solar Cell - A Source of Renewable Green Power
Perovskite Solar Cell - A Source of Renewable Green Power
ISSN 2250-3153
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International Journal of Scientific and Research Publications, Volume 5, Issue 7, July 2015 2
ISSN 2250-3153
Fig. 3: Efficiency of
perovskite solar cells with
time
New solar cell material perovskite offers both cheap and Fig. 4: Cross-sectional view of a completed photovoltaic
efficient power. When perovskite solar cells were first tried in device using tin perovskite. Courtesy: Nature Photonics.
solar cells in 2009 converted about 3.5 percent of the energy in Efforts were made at Northwestern University to develop
sunlight into electricity. With consistent research at different a new form of perovskite-based solar cell that replaces lead with
labs work perovskite PV device have already achieved 15% tin, a commonly available and much more benign material. The
efficiency and scientists are aiming for higher efficiency upto efficiency of this early tin-based cell is a just below 6 percent,
20% [3]. but it is believed that there is no reason that tin perovskite solar
The progress since 2009 has been astonishing, even for a shouldn't achieve much greater efficiencies on a par with lead.
dynamic sector like solar: from 4% to 19% efficiency in five Oxford Photovolatics (Oxford PV), which is commercializing the
years. Chart from Burn & Meredith, Nature, January 2014. The technology developed by award-winning physicist Professor
chart is out of date and the record has risen to 19.3%, announced Snaith, says that omitting lead from the product will make it even
by Yang Yang at UCLA [4]. more attractive to the potential licensees and customers. The
future is lead-free for perovskite solar cells. The new solar cell
Functioning of perovskite solar cell uses a structure called a perovskite but with tin instead of lead as
Photovoltaic energy conversion offers one of the best means the light-absorbing material. Lead perovskite has achieved 15
for the future of renewable energy in the world. The efficiency of percent efficiency, and tin perovskite should be able to match
solar cells depends heavily upon the light-absorbing materials and possibly surpass that. Perovskite solar cells with tin are being
they use. Photovoltaic systems based on lead halide perovskite touted as the "next big thing in photovoltaics" and have
are a new, revolutionary type of device with efficiencies reenergized the field. “There is no reason this new material can't
currently exceeding 16%. However, a detailed description of how reach an efficiency better than 15 percent,” said lead researcher
these solar cells turn light into electrical current is still lacking. Mercouri G. Kanatzidis, an inorganic chemist with the Weinberg
Publishing in Nature Photonics, scientists from Ecole College of Arts and Sciences at Northwestern. “Tin and lead are
Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), Netherlands have in the same group in the periodic table, so we expect similar
investigated how the generated electrical charge travels across results” [6].
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International Journal of Scientific and Research Publications, Volume 5, Issue 7, July 2015 3
ISSN 2250-3153
Lead free perovskite cells could speed up delivery of low cost • build on silicon, the dominant technology today.
solar power
Although the quantity of lead in Pb-based perovskites is Ultrathin Solar Cell is efficient and easy to make
miniscule, the research team, recognizing the requirement to Researchers at Oxford University in the UK have made a
eliminate lead in electronics, has been looking for a substitute thin-film solar cell with better than 15% light-conversion
that is more sustainable and also inexpensive and abundant. A efficiency from an emergent class of semiconductors known as
new breed of solar cells, developed at the University of Oxford perovskites. The devices have a simple architecture and could
by Professor Henry Snaith and his research team, could bring easily be produced in large quantities because the vapour
low cost electricity to the market sooner than predicted following deposition process used to make them is compatible with
the development of a perovskite cell which uses tin instead of conventional processing methods for fabricating such solar cells.
lead. “The use of tin has given the scope to produce incredibly The perovskite cell fabricated on glass sheet is shown in Fig. 5,
cost effective solar cells and it is predicted that tin based solar 6.
cells could generate power for as little as $0.20/Watt and even
this could drive down costs even further.” Professor Snaith acts
as the firm’s Chief Scientific Officer. He was recently awarded Use of nanoparticles in the manufacture of solar cells:
Outstanding Young Investigator of the year by the Materials Benefits
Research Society for his pioneering work on perovskite solar • Reduced manufacturing costs as a result of using a
cells and was one of Nature magazine’s ten nominated people low temperature process
who made a difference in science during 2013.
• Reduced installation costs achieved by producing
Diffusion Length flexible rolls instead of rigid crystalline panels.
‘The diffusion length tells us the average distance that • Currently available nanotechnology solar cells are
charge-carriers (electrons and holes) can travel before they not as efficient as traditional ones; however their
recombine,’ says Dr Sam Stranks. ‘Recombination happens when
excited electrons and holes meet, leaving behind a low-energy
lower cost offsets this. Nanotechnology using
electron which has lost the energy it gained from the sunlight. quantum dots would increase efficiency levels
If the diffusion length is less than the thickness of the material, significantly.
most charge-carriers will recombine before they reach the • It is believed that solar cell technology will be
electrodes so you only get low currents. You want a diffusion contributing significantly to our energy needs by
length that is two to three times as long as the thickness to collect
almost all of the charges.’ 2020 as costs are dropping rapidly.
• Accordingly to Deli Wang the efficiency of
nanowire solar cells have been increasing
dramatically in the past few years, from tenth of 1%
to 15-16%. While it is still lower than the best Si
cells (silicon), but it is fast improving.
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International Journal of Scientific and Research Publications, Volume 5, Issue 7, July 2015 4
ISSN 2250-3153
II. STUDY: PEROVSKITE SOLAR CELLS CAN DOUBLE AS skyscraper as power plant
LASERS
The new findings, recently published online in the Journal The glass sides of skyscrapers will become power plants in
of Physical Chemistry Letters, show that these “wonder cells” the not-too-distant. The rapidly falling cost of converting
can also produce cheap lasers. By sandwiching a thin layer of the sunlight into electricity means it's just a matter of time before
lead halide perovskite between two mirrors, the team produced solar power generation is part of the structure of new buildings.
an optically driven laser which proves these cells “show very At the same time, the development of new photovoltaic materials
efficient luminescence”—with up to 70% of absorbed light re- for turning photons into electrons is increasing the range of ways
emitted. Perovskite promises solar cell by day, light panel by the sun's energy can be harnessed. The scientists think will be
night. This is seen in Fig. 7. very widespread around the world in the next three to five years.
It won't be considered a novelty in new buildings - it will be a
no-brainer in terms of building cost-effectiveness." Perovskite
solar material to reach conversion efficiency of over 30
percent. There is a bright future for solar ahead. The glass sides
of skyscrapers will become power plants in the not-too-distant.
This is shown as shown in Fig. 8.
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International Journal of Scientific and Research Publications, Volume 5, Issue 7, July 2015 5
ISSN 2250-3153
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