Paul Boughton looks at a project to explore the potential of the ‘wonder material’ graphene in the development of photovoltaic cells.
Paul Boughton examine un projet pour explorer le potentiel de ce «matériau merveilleux» qu’est le graphène dans le développement de cellules photovoltaïques.
Paul Boughton sieht sich ein Projekt zur Erforschung des Potenzials des „Wundermaterials” Graphen bei der Entwicklung von Photovoltaikzellen an.
Graphene: unlocking the solar potential
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Incorporating graphene technology into the manufacture of photovoltaic cells has the potential to boost efficiency levels.
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he vast majority of photovoltaic cells are based on a crystalline silicon construction. These have high power
conversion efficiency characteristics, but the drawback is that they are costly to fabricate, requiring use of the highest purity silicon. Thin film solar cells, in contrast,
are relatively inexpensive to make. They have numerous favourable deployment characteristics, but this is counterbalanced by lower power conversion efficiency and shorter operational lifespans than crystalline silicon. But the possibility of carefully engineered incorporation of graphene nanoplatelets (GNPs) within the perovskite charge collecting regions of thin film solid-state dye-sensitised solar cells could boosted efficiency levels. Through this, the widespread uptake
of photovoltaic technology could be accelerated as solar cells that combine cost-effectiveness and high performance would then be brought to market.
Increased conversion efficiencies will result in a smaller installed area per unit of generated electricity, reducing the material requirements as well as carbon footprint of the manufacturing process. Monolayer graphene encapsulation
of the entire cell also has the potential to prevent moisture ingress affecting the perovskite layer, increasing the durability of this component in addition to reducing the external toxicity of solar cells based on these materials. Now 2-DTech, a specialist in the
development of graphene solutions, has linked up with solar technology company Dyesol in order to carry out research relating to graphene being integrated into solid-state dye-sensitised solar cells. 2-DTech was formed out the
University of Manchester’s pioneering work on graphene and retains the benefits of strong links with this establishment and is based at the university. Now it has been awarded a grant worth £98,000 from InnovateUK to explore the graphene potential.
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