FEATURE SOLAR
Perovskites leading the PV efficiency race
Richard Corfield looks at the current efficiency of solar cell technologies and explores some of the contenders, such as perovskite solar cells, showing promise for improvement
T 28 Electro Optics May 2023
o date, the principal material from which solar cells have been constructed is mono-crystalline silicon – these have 97% of the
market. Christope Balliff, from Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, thinks solar-cell efficiency based on crystalline silicon will rise to 24.5-26% in production, leading to 23-24% efficient modules on average by the end of the decade. However, other materials are now being looked at, principally in an effort to increase energy output and save costs. The most important group of materials
are perovskites. Perovskites are minerals composed of calcium titanium oxide (CaTiO2), discovered by the Russian scientist Gustav Rose in 1839. Russian mineralogist Lev Perovski conducted
further research on the mineral, hence the name Perovskite. The term perovskite refers to a whole family of compounds1
. The original mineral,
calcium titanium oxide (CaTiO3), has a distinctive crystal configuration. It has a three-part structure, whose components have come to be labelled A, B and X, in which lattices of the different components are interlaced. The family of perovskites consists of many possible combinations of elements or molecules that can occupy each of the three components and form a crystal structure similar to that of the original perovskite itself.
Mix and match Tonio Buonassisi, Professor of Mechanical Engineering at MIT and Director of the
@electrooptics |
www.electrooptics.com
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