Researchers in China have made a breakthrough that could mean big things for the future of solar power. According to Tech Xplore, a team of researchers from the Ningbo Institute of Materials Technology and Engineering of the Chinese Academy of Sciences has developed more efficient and stable all-perovskite tandem solar cells (TSCs).
All-perovskite TSCs are more efficient solar cells by optimizing solar spectrum utilization by absorbing the sun's energy on two levels. A wide-bandgap (WBG) top cell captures high-energy photons while a narrow bandgap (NBG) bottom cell captures lower-energy wavelengths. The problem is that the phosphoric acid anchors in self-assembled monolayers corrode nickel oxide (NiOx) in the WBG top cells and degrade the efficiency and stability of the cells.
The researchers, led by Professor Ge Ziyi, replaced the phosphoric acid with less-acidic boric acid and found that it not only didn't cause the same corrosion, but it also created a more stable bond.
"This enhanced interaction facilitates uniform SAM distribution, effectively preventing molecular aggregation on the NiOx surface," Professor Ge said, according to Nature Communications, where the study was originally published.
The result, with the new formula for a WBG cell along with the NBG bottom cell, delivered an impressive 28.5% power conversion efficiency (PCE). That's a significant leap compared to the average home solar power system. According to CNET, the five most efficient home solar options for 2025 range from 22.6 % to 24.1% efficiency.
But that's not all. After 500 hours of one sun illumination, the cells maintained 90% of the initial efficiency, exhibiting long-term stability. This research could be a stepping stone for the development of high-performance TSCs moving forward.
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