Discovery by Berkeley Lab could dramatically boost efficiency of perovskite solar cells

 
This atomic force microscopy image of the grainy surface of a perovskite solar cell reveals a new path to much greater efficiency. Individual grains are black, low-performing facets are red, high-performing facets are green (photo: Berkeley Lab)

Scientists from the Department of Energy’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) have discovered a possible secret to dramatically boosting the efficiency of perovskite solar cells hidden in the nanoscale peaks and valleys of the crystalline material. Solar cells made from compounds that have the crystal structure of the mineral perovskite have captured scientists’ imaginations. They’re inexpensive and easy to fabricate, like organic solar cells. Even more intriguing, the efficiency at which perovskite solar cells convert photons to electricity has increased more rapidly than any other material to date, starting at 3% in 2009—when researchers first began exploring the material’s photovoltaic capabilities—to 22% today. This is in the ballpark of the efficiency of silicon solar cells.

Now, a team of scientists from the Molecular Foundry and the Joint Center for Artificial Photosynthesis, both at Berkeley Lab, found a surprising characteristic of a perovskite solar cell that could be exploited for even higher efficiencies, possibly up to 31%. Using photoconductive atomic force microscopy, the scientists mapped two properties on the active layer of the solar cell that relate to its photovoltaic efficiency. The maps revealed a bumpy surface composed of grains about 200nm in length, and each grain has multi-angled facets like the faces of a gemstone.

Unexpectedly, the scientists discovered a huge difference in energy conversion efficiency between facets on individual grains. They found poorly performing facets adjacent to highly efficient facets, with some facets approaching the material’s theoretical energy conversion limit of 31%.

The scientists say these top-performing facets could hold the secret to highly efficient solar cells, although more research is needed. “If the material can be synthesised so that only very efficient facets develop, then we could see a big jump in the efficiency of perovskite solar cells, possibly approaching 31%,” says Sibel Leblebici, a postdoctoral researcher at the Molecular Foundry.

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