From Cosmos (13/3/24)…
Promise of perovskite as Australian lab hits record PV efficiency
Australian renewable energy researchers have set a new efficiency record for roll-to-roll perovskite solar cells, an emerging type of solar array that promises lighter and more portable PV technology than conventional silicon-based systems.
Printed onto plastic films using specialised ‘inks’ these roll-out arrays have already been given a field test on board the private Australian satellite Optimus-1, launched on Space X’s Transporter-10 mission last week.
An array of 8 ‘mini-modules’ will be tested on board that satellite as a hopeful precursor to more perovskite cells powering spacecraft in the future. In the meantime, the CSIRO, which has been developing the technology closer to home, reports in the journal Nature Communications it has achieved 15.5% efficiency at small scale, and 11% for a 50cm2 module – roughly the size of a credit card.
The typical 2,000°C temperatures required to melt silicon for conventional arrays are traded for a less energy-intensive ‘printing’ or ‘coding’ method, where plastic rolls are embossed with layers of chemical inks to form their cells. The photovoltaic layer is so thin – about a micron, the equivalent of a red blood cell – that it’s flexible and difficult to damage.
