RESEARCH PAPER

PEROVISKITE SOLAR CELL

WHAT IS A SOLAR PHOTOVOLTAIC CELL:

A photovoltaic cell is an electrical device that converts the light energy directly
into electricity by the photovoltaic effect. It is a device whose electrical characteristics, such
as current, voltage, or resistance, vary when exposed to light. Individual solar cell devices are
the electrical building blocks of photovoltaic modules, commonly known as solar panels. The
common single-junction silicon solar cell can produce a maximum open-circuit voltage of
approximately 0.5 volts to 0.6 volts.
The operation of a photovoltaic (PV) cell requires three common attributes:
The absorption of light, generates either electron-hole pairs or excitons.
The separation of charge carriers of opposite types.
The extraction of those carriers to an external circuit.

STRUCTURE OF SOLAR PV CELL:

Multiple solar cells in a group, all aligned in one plane, constitute a solar photovoltaic panel
or module. Photovoltaic modules often have a sheet of glass on the sun-facing side, allowing
light to pass while protecting the semiconductor wafers. Solar cells are usually connected in
series for creating an additive voltage. Connecting cells in parallel yield a higher current.
SOLAR PV ELECTRICITY GENERATION:
Efficiency is the ratio of energy output to energy input of a given system. In solar
photovoltaic (PV) cells, igt refers to the ratio of useful electrical energy they produce to the
amount of solar energy incident on the cell under standardized testing conditions. Although
some experimental solar cells have achieved efficiencies of close to 50%, most commercial
cells have efficiency below 30%. Unlike the Carnot efficiency which limits the thermal
efficiency of heat engines, the efficiency of solar cells is limited by something called the
"band gap energy".
The theoretical efficiency of silicon PV cells is about 33%.
POWER DEGRADATION:

The efficiency of solar cells and solar panels is known to decrease over time, resulting in a
decrease in output energy every year. This is due to a number of factors such as UV exposure
and weather cycles. A comprehensive report from the National Renewable Energy
Laboratory (NREL) states that the median degradation rate is 0.5% per year. This means that
after 25 years of operation a solar panel originally rated for 300 watts of power output will
only produce about 260 watts on average. Degradation in the first year of operation can also
be much more profound, at around 2.5%.

SOLAR ENERGY AND NET-ZERO:

At the 26th Conference of Parties (COP26), Prime Minister Narendra Modi committed India
to a net-zero carbon emissions target by 2070. In essence, net-zero implies the employment of
mechanisms that would offset the amount of carbon emitted by a country into the atmosphere
by absorbing an equivalent amount of greenhouse gases from the atmosphere.

The net-zero commitment is part of a strategy of Panchamrit or “five elixirs.” Four out of five
of these so-called elixirs are short-term goals that would pave the way for achieving a net-
zero emissions target by 2070. The immediate goals are:
1. Reaching a non-fossil fuel energy capacity of 500 GW by 2030;
2. Fulfilling 50 percent energy requirements via renewable energy by 2030;
3. Reducing CO2 emissions by 1 million tons by 2030;
4. Reducing carbon intensity below 45 percent by 2030.

DISVANTAGES OF SOLAR PV CELL:

1. High Upfront Costs
2. Lack of Materials and Technologies
3. Soft Costs
4.Effect of improper Geographical Location and weather
5. Takes a lot of Space
6. Generates lots of waste

PROBLEM STATEMENT:
One of the most promising power sources for reducing carbon emissions is solar electricity.
Photovoltaic electricity increased from 597 GWh in 2005 to around 545 TWh in 2018, and
with numerous measures being implemented to aim to attain net-zero in the next few decades,
solar panel use continues to rise around the world. For decades, crystalline silicon has been
the best option. Other materials, such as copper indium gallium selenide (CIGS) and
cadmium telluride (CdTe), have appeared, although they only account for a minor portion of
the market ( about 5 percent ). The fact that they are difficult to build as efficiently and
affordably as regular silicon-based solar panels is the fundamental reason for their minimal
market penetration.
However, silicon isn't without flaws. It still has concerns with cost and efficiency, which
seldom exceeds 21% to 22% for the most popular panels. The vast majority of solar panels
are constructed of materials that predominantly convert visible light. They were made this
way because visible light makes up the majority of the light that reaches the Earth and
contains more energy than infrared light (which also makes up a significant portion of light
that comes to Earth). Due to the extreme heat required to remove impurities from silicon, it's
also no secret that creating solar panels is a dirty business, therefore academics and firms
have been seeking for alternatives. Photovoltaics are a promising technology that offers
simple production and excellent efficiency.

INTRODUCTION TO PEROVSKITE:
Perovskites are a group of materials that have a unique crystal structure. Gustav Rose, a
German scientist, found it in Russia in 1839 while on a trip. Perovskites are any materials that
have the same crystal structure as calcium titanium oxide (CaTiO3).
It wasn't until the 1950s that oxide perovskites became a focus of study and development,
with applications in fuel cells, glass ceramics, superconducting devices, and more. However,
it wasn't until 1999 that perovskites were used in solar cells. Researchers from Tokyo's
National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology have developed a rare-
earth-based perovskite chemical to create an optical absorption layer for a solar cell.
Following that, the new millennium brought new research into perovskite solar cells, as well
as novel production methods and materials. 4
Perovskites are simple to synthesize materials that are regarded as the solar cell of the future
due to their unique structure, which has demonstrated a high potential for high performance
and low manufacturing costs. These solar cells have improved dramatically in a short period
of time, with conversion efficiency rising from around 3% in 2006 to over 29% today,
exceeding the maximum efficiency achievable in classic mono- and poly-crystalline silicon
cells.
Perovskite cells are made in laboratories by spin-coating, spraying, or "painting" them onto a
substrate, which is a substance that acts as a surface for the chemicals to crystallize on.

STRUCTURE OF PEROVSKITE:
Any substance with a crystal structure that follows the formula ABX3 is referred to as a
perovskite. ABX3 where 'A' and 'B' are two ions of varying sizes, and X is an ion (usually
oxide) that bonds to both of them. The 'A' atoms are larger than the 'B' atoms in general. The
B cation is in 6-fold coordination, surrounded by an octahedron of anions, and the A cation is
in 12-fold cuboctahedral coordination in the ideal cubic structure. Additional perovskite
forms may exist in which the A and B sites are configured as A1x-1A2x and/or B1y-1B2y,
respectively, and the X deviates from the ideal coordination arrangement as the oxidation
states of the ions within the A and B sites vary.

WHY A HALIDE SEMICONDUCTOR:

Absorption is strong in the visible region. It has long carrier diffusion length up to ∼1 μm
and weak exciton binding energy of ∼45 meV. Its carrier mobility is high
(∼25 cm2V−1S−1) and charge recombination rate is low (on microseconds time scale) .The
defect density of single-crystalline MAPbI3 is ∼1010 cm−3, which is much lower than
∼1016 cm−3 in the case of polycrystalline perovskites .The carrier lifetime for single-
crystalline CH3NH3PbI3 perovskite is up to a few hundred microseconds with a
corresponding diffusion length of ∼ 175 µm. Another unique property of
CH3NH3PbI3 perovskite material is its ambipolar transport property.

PEROVISKITE SOLAR CELL:

A perovskite solar cell (PSC) is a form of solar cell that uses a perovskite-structured
compound as the light-harvesting active layer, most typically a hybrid organic-inorganic lead
or tin halide-based material. Perovskite materials like methylammonium lead halides and all-
inorganic cesium lead halides are inexpensive and easy to make.
In single-junction architectures, solar cell efficiencies of laboratory-scale devices using these
materials have increased from 3.8 percent in 2009[3] to 25.7 percent in 2021,[4][5] and to
29.8 percent in silicon-based tandem cells,[4][6], surpassing the maximum efficiency
achieved in single-junction silicon solar cells. As of 2016, perovskite solar cells were the
fastest-developing solar technology.

WHY PEROVSKITE SOLAR CELLS?

Perovskite solar cells hold an advantage over traditional silicon solar cells in the simplicity of their
processing and their tolerance to internal defects.[32] Traditional silicon cells require expensive,
multi-step processes, conducted at high temperatures (>1000 °C) under high vacuum in special
cleanroom facilities.[33] Meanwhile, the hybrid organic-inorganic perovskite material can be
manufactured with simpler wet chemistry techniques in a traditional lab environment. Most
notably, methylammonium and formamidinium lead trihalides, also known as hybrid perovskites,
have been created using a variety of solution deposition techniques, such as spin coating, slot-
die coating, blade coating, spray coating, inkjet printing, screen printing, electrodeposition, and
vapor deposition techniques, all of which have the potential to be scaled up with relative ease
except spin coating.
REFERENCE: Solar cell efficiency - Energy Education
India’s Road to Net-Zero – The Diplomat
Net Zero by 2050 – Analysis - IEA
The Disadvantages of PV Solar Panels | Planning Tank
Perovskite Solar Cells May Be the Future of Energy - Undecided with Matt Ferrell (undecidedmf.com)

Importance of Solar Energy for planning a green World (planningtank.com)