Perovskite solar cells: TEAM PV develops reproducibility and comparability
Perovskite materials for photovoltaic applications come in many shades, reflecting their huge variety of optical properties. This makes them uniquely fit to be combined with other materials in multijunction solar cells. © M. Setzpfandt/HZB
At HZB several labs are dedicated to perovskite research. Here different compositions of the material can be prepared. © M. Setzpfandt/HZB
The HZB runs a testing facility in order to observe different perovskite solar cells in real life conditions. © HZB
Ten teams at Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin are building a long-term international alliance to converge practices and develop reproducibility and comparability in perovskite materials. The TEAM PV project is funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF), Germany.
Solar energy is already the cheapest way to generate electricity in many parts of the world. But the world needs much higher efficiency solar modules to power demanding sectors such as electric vehicles, steel production, and AI. Likely the only option for increasing efficiency within the next decade is halide perovskites, a new class of materials that has been the subject of intensive research in the last decade. And while the silicon modules that dominate the market today are mainly produced in China, production facilities for halide perovskite cells could also be set up in Europe and the US, de-risking supply chains.
However, the road from the laboratory to mass production is long and there are still a number of hurdles to overcome. "The central goal is to increase the manufacturability, stability, and reliability of perovskite-based technologies. We urgently need common protocols to reliably compare diverse global developments in these novel materials and also to predict their service life," says Dr Siddhartha Garud, who drives the management of the TEAM PV project at HZB. Within this project, HZB aims to converge best practices in fabrication and analyses together with the National Renewable Energy Lab NREL, the University of Colorado Boulder and Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin.
One of the main questions is how the stability determined in a laboratory will behave under real conditions in a field. Another focus will be on machine learning methods to navigate this extremely vast class of materials and devices. The participating teams will work closely together to further develop the fabrication and analysis of perovskite thin films and full devices.
The BMBF is providing a total of €4 million in funding for the TEAM PV project for tools, personnel and researcher exchanges. "We want to establish a long-term partnership in photovoltaics with sustained researcher exchanges and also make it a starting point for further collaborations between the Helmholtz Association and National Labs and top Universities in the U.S.", Garud says.
- Long-term stability for perovskite solar cells: a big step forwardPerovskite solar cells are inexpensive to produce and generate a high amount of electric power per surface area. However, they are not yet stable enough, losing efficiency more rapidly than the silicon market standard. Now, an international team led by Prof. Dr. Antonio Abate has dramatically increased their stability by applying a novel coating to the interface between the surface of the perovskite and the top contact layer. This has even boosted efficiency to almost 27%, which represents the state-of-the-art. After 1,200 hours of continuous operation under standard illumination, no decrease in efficiency was observed. The study involved research teams from China, Italy, Switzerland and Germany and has been published in Nature Photonics.
- Electrocatalysis with dual functionality – an overviewHybrid electrocatalysts can produce green hydrogen, for example, and valuable organic compounds simultaneously. This promises economically viable applications. However, the complex catalytic reactions involved in producing organic compounds are not yet fully understood. Modern X-ray methods at synchrotron sources such as BESSY II, enable catalyst materials and the reactions occurring on their surfaces to be analysed in real time, in situ and under real operating conditions. This provides insights that can be used for targeted optimisation. A team has now published an overview of the current state of knowledge in Nature Reviews Chemistry.
- Successful master's degree in IR thermography on solar facadesWe are delighted to congratulate our student employee Luca Raschke on successfully completing her Master's degree in Renewable Energies at the Hochschule für Technik und Wirtschaft Berlin - and with distinction!