Taiwan has developed next-generation solar cell components that would boost solar-cell efficiency by more than 31 percent, Academia Sinica said yesterday.
Boosting solar-cell efficiency is key in developing solar energy in the nation, given the limited space available to install solar panels, the institute said in a statement.
Currently, the highest light-to-electricity conversion efficiency achieved by silicon solar cells is about 22 to 24 percent, the institute said, adding that it is nearly impossible to increase efficiency by 30 percent with silicon solar cells alone.
Photo courtesy of Academia Sinica
However, perovskite films can be combined with silicon solar cells to form stacked perovskite/silicon solar cells to improve light-to-electricity conversion efficiency, it said.
The institute formed a research group to develop perovskite/silicon tandem solar cells after Academia Sinica President James Liao (廖俊智) finalized the decision, with its own researchers being joined by those from National Cheng Kung University, National Tsing Hua University and Ming Chi University of Technology, it said.
The research team succeeded in creating perovskite/silicon tandem solar cells in two years, boosting the light-electricity conversion efficiency to more than 31 percent, Liao said.
Photo courtesy fo the Academia Sinica via CNA
“The efficiency is more than 30 percent higher than solar cell products currently on the market. Compared with the solar power generation devices deployed in the early years, the efficiency has increased by nearly 50 percent. Power generation can be increased without increasing the properties required to develop solar energy,” he said.
Silicon solar cell modules can only absorb part of the wavelength of sunlight, resulting in limited conversion efficiency. Tandem solar cells use the upper layer of perovskite to absorb photons that cannot be absorbed by silicon crystal, and the remaining photons are absorbed by the lower layer of silicon crystal, thereby increasing the conversion efficiency, the institute said.
The research team has broken through several key connection layer technologies, successfully laminated perovskite films on silicon cells and reduced interface losses, thus completing the production of small-area two-terminal cell components. The light-electricity conversion efficiency has reached 31.5 percent, the institute said.
There is sufficient supply of materials to produce perovskite/silicon solar cells, which can be manufactured at lower costs, run efficiently and are recyclable, the team said.
“The result shows that Taiwan has the ability to produce perovskite/silicon tandem solar cells, which also have a high potential to be commercialized,” the team said.
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