According to pv magazine Inde
Crystalline silicon (c-Si) solar cells have maintained their dominance among global photovoltaic products for 40 years, securing over 95% of the market share. As the efficiency of silicon solar cells approaches the classical theoretical limit of thermodynamic equilibrium of 33.5%, it becomes increasingly difficult to achieve further improvements.
High energy demands during production, along with resulting carbon dioxide emissions and limited avenues for efficiency gains, highlight the need for innovation in device processing and architectures.
With pressing demand for expansion of solar power generation, it is imperative to improve the deployment of current photovoltaic technologies and advance the development of future photovoltaic technologies that are more efficient, easier to manufacture and have higher embodied energy. weak.
Over the past decade, organic-inorganic hybrid perovskites (OIHPs) have enabled significant advances in low-cost optoelectronic semiconductors, particularly in photovoltaics, achieving remarkable energy conversion efficiencies exceeding 26%. Taking into account practical considerations such as cost, preparation methods, and industrial status, the synergy of perovskite with crystalline silicon (c-Si) emerges as the most viable tandem configuration.
A research group at the Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee is developing high-efficiency silicon-perovskite tandem solar cells for low-cost and high-efficiency power generation.
The team, led by Prof. Soumitra Satapathi, fabricated 4-terminal silicon-perovskite tandem solar cells with a power conversion efficiency of 28%. This has been achieved through improvements in the efficiency of wide-bandgap perovskite solar cells and advances in device engineering. One of the team’s major achievements is the development of perovskite solar cells that are both highly efficient and stable. The researchers successfully integrated these perovskite cells with commercial PERC silicon solar cells.
“These perovskite and silicon solar cells are electrically connected in a 4-terminal configuration. Light is illuminated from the top of the perovskite solar cells and filtered through them. A top layer of perovskite with a bandgap of about 1.8 eV absorbs light in the visible range and passes near-IR light which is absorbed by the silicon solar cells below. Therefore, the efficiency of tandem solar cells increases from 20% for silicon solar cells alone to 28%,” Soumitra Satapathi told pv magazine.
Soumitra Satapathi said they are now scaling this technology to match the commercial size of M10 solar cells of 18.2 cm x 18.2 cm. This is done by manufacturing large area perovskite solar cells using Slot-Die coating, a technique used for manufacturing mini perovskite modules.
The team is also working to improve the balance of the system to reduce costs and hopes to have commercial-sized 30% efficient tandem solar cells within a year. Based on their success, their team established Perovskite Innovation Pvt Ltd, a start-up that works exclusively on this technology.
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