Potential of Perovskite Solar Cells Featured in Solar Today

Feb. 11, 2016 | By Wayne Hicks | Contact media relations

Familiar with perovskite solar cells? If not, you'll probably hear more about them soon.

Perovskites are a family of materials receiving considerable attention by solar cell researchers due to the rapid rise of solar conversion efficiencies, increasing from about 4% to almost 22% in just six years.

In an interview published in Solar Today (winter 2015 edition), Dr. Jao van de Lagemaat, director of the Chemistry and Nanoscience Center at the National Renewable Laboratory (NREL), highlighted various aspects of perovskites, which have received considerable attention by solar cell researchers at NREL and other institutions such as University of Oxford (England), Sungkyunkwan University (South Korea), and Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne (Switzerland). In addition to the rapid rise of solar conversion efficiencies, perovskite solar cells can be manufactured with low capital expense methods. In the article, "Perovskites: A New Materials for Solar Cells," van de Lagemaat discusses efficiency, but also covers issues such as the market potential, stability, and environmental friendliness of this technology.

NREL is gaining a leadership role in the field of perovskite solar cells, as evidenced by more than 40 papers published on the topic in peer-reviewed scientific journals over the last three years. Recently, Dr. Yixin Zhao (Jiao Tong University, China) and Dr. Kai Zhu at NREL published a comprehensive review titled "Organic-inorganic hybrid lead halide perovskites for optoelectronic and electronic applications." In specific research on the chemistry and physics of this and other varieties of perovskites, NREL's work ranges from theoretical modeling and fundamental physical understanding, to materials deposition and processing, to characterization.

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