New method to drastically improve photoelectric conversion efficiency of high-performance perovskite solar cells

The research team led by Yang Yang, a Chinese-American professor of materials engineering at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), has discovered a new method that can dramatically improve the photoelectric conversion efficiency of perovskite solar cells while improving traditional silicon solar panels. Rare earths are expensive and process pollution problems.

Due to the high price of silica used to produce silicon solar panels, the manufacturing process will cause serious pollution. Related parties have been trying to develop alternative solutions with higher efficiency, lower pollution, and lower prices in recent years. The theoretical efficiency of calcium is 50%. Titanium solar panels are one of them. After seven months of hard work, Yang Yang, with the joint efforts of postdoctoral fellows Chen Qi and Zhou Huaiping, succeeded in finding new ways to increase the photoelectric conversion efficiency from 3% to 16%, and improved the previous perovskite solar panels. Can not take into account the area and efficiency issues.

"World News" quoted Yang Yang's statement, he said: "Perovskite solar cells have two kinds of raw materials, the old process method is to use baked, but the two materials have different boiling points, can not be baked very evenly, causing the interface of the electron transfer The poor efficiency leads to a reduction in the overall conversion efficiency.” Therefore, they used vapor deposition to “steam” a raw material into another raw material to create a uniform film on the surface, thereby improving the conductivity. Although the area is only one square meter, the performance is much higher than that of perovskite solar energy of the same size in the past. Yang Yang stated that he hopes to further increase the photoelectric conversion efficiency to 20%.

Yang Yang has been engaged in solar cell research for more than 10 years. He said: “Everybody is looking for the best source of solar cells. The efficiency of photoelectric conversion of silicon crystalline solar cells is about 18%, but the process must consume a lot of electricity, and its electricity costs must be at least five. Years can be recycled, coupled with the high cost and high pollution of raw silica, which is actually not ideal.” And perovskite is absolutely superior to silicon crystal cells.

"World News" pointed out that perovskite is an artificially synthesized ceramic oxide, so there is no problem of depletion of resources; coupled with the simple process of such materials, the cost can be greatly reduced, unlimited commercial potential. The Yang Yang team's research report was published on the January 15 issue of the Journal of the American Chemical Society.