Perovskite crystals have been the most anticipated evolution in the world of photovoltaic cells for years. Its combination with silicon could bring the efficiency of the cells to values never imagined before and the low production costs and its qualities as a “light catcher” make it the most promising promise in the world of photovoltaics.
Unfortunately, however, there are still several knots to be solved before this technology can finally be commercialized, first of all its durability and resistance to environmental factors, which apparently significantly reduce its useful life.
So the big question is: Where are we with development? Scientists around the world are working hard to finalize the development of an efficient and long-lasting perovskite cell.
In the “Recent Progress in Developing Monolithic Perovskite / Si Tandem SolarCells” study, the authors analyzed the technological developments obtained to date in the production of silicon-perovskite tandem cells.
Oxford Pv ( https://www.oxfordpv.com/ ) the world’s leading industry in the development of this technology, at the end of 2020 it set the record for an experimental cell of about 1.12 square cm in size, obtaining a measured efficiency of 29.52% in laboratory tests certified by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory – NREL ( https://www.nrel.gov/ ).
Oxford Pv says it intends to commercialize its tandem cell as early as 2022 and claims to have developed a product that has passed the resistance tests in real conditions performed by the International Electrotechnical Commission unscathed; however the study reported by Frontiers in Chemestery ( https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/chemistry# ) argues that it is still necessary to define precisely what are the standard methods for carrying out stability checks on new generation cells and that the data of these tests must be published in an exhaustive manner in order to verify their correctness.
The most delicate part is believed to be that of encapsulating the tandem cells in such a way that they are protected more effectively from external agents that cause their rapid deterioration.
Perovskite crystals are defined as organic compounds – inorganic at the center of which there is a metal atom that releases electrons when hit by sunlight. There are different types of perovskites that absorb different wavelengths, so theoretically, by combining them, a very high conversion efficiency can be obtained which gives us hope for the future.