Pawan Kumar
Solar cells produce electricity efficiently and affordably
Washington, United States, February 12: In recent years, a novel solar technology has shown promising. Halide perovskite solar cells produce electricity efficiently and affordably, two qualities that are essential for any future solar technology to be successful.
However, new solar cell materials ought to be as stable as silicon-based solar cells, which have a more than 25-year track record of dependability.
Perovskite solar cells made of lead halide promise to convert sunlight into electricity more effectively. Currently, treating these cells’ surfaces with large positively charged ions, or cations, is the most popular method for getting high conversion efficiencies out of them.
According to Correa-Baena, “Our worry was that the repair of the interfaces would continue during long periods of solar cell operation.” “So, we tried to comprehend and show how this process develops through time.”
The scientists used conventional perovskite films to construct a sample solar device for the experiment. The system has eight individual solar cells, allowing the researchers to conduct experiments and gather data based on the performance of each cell. They examined the performance of the cells both with and without the cation surface treatment and used synchrotron-based X-ray characterisation tools to examine the cation-modified interfaces of each cell both before and after significant heat stress.
The pre-treated samples were first heated to 100 degrees Celsius for 40 minutes, after which the researchers used X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy to determine how their chemical makeup had changed. In order to determine precisely what kinds of crystal structures emerge on the film’s surface, they also used another kind of X-ray technology. The researchers were able to see how the cations diffused into the lattice and how the interface structure changed in response to heat by combining the data from the two techniques.
Also Read: | Yamaha MT-15 V2, FZ-X & R15 V4 Updates Incoming Tomorrow
The scientists then made a correlation between the variations in the solar cells’ efficiency and the changes in structure and optoelectronic properties. Additionally, they looked at the differences in dynamics at the interfaces of two of the most common cations and analysed the modifications brought on by high temperatures.
The scientists discovered that under thermal stress, the surfaces of metal halide perovskite films treated with organic cations continue to change in structure and composition. They discovered that the consequent atomic-scale alterations at the interface can result in a significant decrease in solar cells’ ability to convert sunlight into energy. They also discovered that the type of cations utilised affects how quickly these changes occur, indicating that stable interfaces can be possible with the right molecular engineering.
