Researchers Take Major Step Toward Developing Next-Generation Solar Cells
Summary
“Perovskites might be a game changer,” said Michael McGehee, a professor in the Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering and fellow with CU Boulder’s Renewable & Sustainable Energy Institute. But a major challenge in making them from perovskite at a commercial scale is the process of coating the semiconductor onto the glass plates which are the building blocks of panels. Currently, the coating process has to take place in a small box filled with non-reactive gas, such as nitrogen, to prevent the perovskites from reacting with oxygen, which decreases their performance. The new study showed that the perovskite cell made with DMAFo retained 90% of its efficiency after the researchers exposed them to LED light that mimicked sunlight for 700 hours. Together with researchers from three other universities, two companies and a national laboratory, the consortium received $9 million funding from the U.S. Department of Energy last year to develop stable tandem perovskites that can feasibly be used in the real world and are commercially viable.