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93% efficiency Solar cell

A

Arthur Hanson

Well-known member
It's behind a paywall but there should be other places to access it. If this technology is perfected it will be a worldwide game changer. Even if in the lab only, it's points to a bright future for solar. Any additional links found would be appreciated.

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Scientists in Switzerland have discovered a new method to enhance perovskite solar cell performance by securing rubidium (Rb) within the material, thus significantly lowering energy loss and increasing efficiency.

Led by Lukas Pfeifer, PhD, and Likai Zheng, PhD, from the Swiss Federal Technology Institute of Lausanne (EPFL), the team managed to keep rubidium ions locked into the crystal framework of the perovskite – a group of materials known for their high efficiency and low manufacturing costs in solar cell applications – by applying lattice strain.

By utilizing the controlled distortion in the atomic structure, the pioneering approach not only stabilized wide-bandgap (WBG) material but also improved efficiency by cutting non-radiative recombination, a major cause of energy loss.

https://interestingengineering.com/energy/strain-trick-improves-perovskite-cells-efficiency
 
Arthur Hanson said:
https://interestingengineering.com/energy/strain-trick-improves-perovskite-cells-efficiency It's behind a paywall but there should be other places to access it. If this technology is perfected it will be a worldwide game changer. Even if in the lab only, it's points to a bright future for solar. Any additional links found would be appreciated.
Click to expand...
Except that's misleading, they're 14% efficient which is 93% of the theoretical limit for perovskite cells -- but still only 60% of what monocrystalline silicon cells in mass production already achieve...
 
fansink said:
Both photovoltaic and Seebeck, at concentrated power flux, max out at ~50% efficiency, thus far.
Click to expand...
Only for ludicrously complex and expensive multi-layer cells in the lab, using exotic materials -- there's zero chance of these ever getting into mass production for grid power generation, where cost per kWh is the most important factor.

The most promising cells for this are dual-layer perovskite-on-silicon (assuming these can be made cheaply at scale which seems likely), these are around 30% efficient which means about 3/4 the area of silicon cells for the same output.
 
IanD said:
Only for ludicrously complex and expensive multi-layer cells in the lab, using exotic materials -- there's zero chance of these ever getting into mass production for grid power generation, where cost per kWh is the most important factor.

The most promising cells for this are dual-layer perovskite-on-silicon (assuming these can be made cheaply at scale which seems likely), these are around 30% efficient which means about 3/4 the area of silicon cells for the same output.
Click to expand...

Exactly, just want to mention a current cap, regardless of economic constraints.
 
Solar cell technology is moving at an accelerating rate with new technologies coming out all the time, the latest being a solar power clear window. Solar is following the same path as all semiconductors, moving at an ever accelerating rate in performance and costs coming down. Which technology will win or new ones that come out is anybody's guess at this point.
 
Arthur Hanson said:
Solar cell technology is moving at an accelerating rate with new technologies coming out all the time, the latest being a solar power clear window. Solar is following the same path as all semiconductors, moving at an ever accelerating rate in performance and costs coming down. Which technology will win or new ones that come out is anybody's guess at this point.
Click to expand...

Sticking with efficiency, it'll be 30 to 40 years before the current commercial efficiencies of ~23% reach ~42% (based on historical trends).
 
fansink said:
Sticking with efficiency, it'll be 30 to 40 years before the current commercial efficiencies of ~23% reach ~42% (based on historical trends).
Click to expand...
Just like batteries, that's what a lot of the "SOLAR CELL BREAKTHROUGH!!!" promoters fail to understand -- no matter how good the efficiency is in the lab, it'll never make it out into widespread use in the real world unless the cells can be made cheaply in massive volumes and don't need any expensive/rare/exotic materials. And the problem is that this is exactly what almost all the "super-solar-cells" rely on, especially multilayer ones which are also very expensive to make and not easily scalable to big volumes -- to get high quantum efficiency needs structures like this.

So I'm not sure that extrapolation from historical trends can be relied on, commercial high-volume low-cost cell efficiency will hit a brick wall when everything cost-effective using common materials has been done -- which at the moment looks like perovskite-on-silicon at around 30% efficiency. Maybe something better will come along but lots of people have been looking for years, and there's no sign of anything better coming out of the labs -- 50% efficient cells that cost 100x as much are a curiosity, not a solution... ;-)
 
Arthur Hanson said:
Solar cell technology is moving at an accelerating rate with new technologies coming out all the time, the latest being a solar power clear window. Solar is following the same path as all semiconductors, moving at an ever accelerating rate in performance and costs coming down. Which technology will win or new ones that come out is anybody's guess at this point.
Click to expand...
Not for real commercial use, performance increase rate has slowed to a crawl for big-volume affordable cells. Solar cell efficiency is limited by physics, unlike semiconductors where most of the improvements come from ever-smaller transistors but this has no relevance to solar cells.

Cost however continues to drop, and transparent cells could greatly increase use on buildings like skyscrapers if they're cheap and efficient enough.
 
Arthur Hanson said:
Solar cell technology is moving at an accelerating rate with new technologies coming out all the time, the latest being a solar power clear window. Solar is following the same path as all semiconductors, moving at an ever accelerating rate in performance and costs coming down. Which technology will win or new ones that come out is anybody's guess at this point.
Click to expand...

I’ve spent a good portion of my life fitting and extrapolating data, and considering the AI assisted materials science is yet to hit its stride…..

My SWAG is that we’re in the acceleration part of a transition curve and likely going to be in the landing part by 2050.
 
Arthur Hanson said:
It's behind a paywall but there should be other places to access it. If this technology is perfected it will be a worldwide game changer. Even if in the lab only, it's points to a bright future for solar. Any additional links found would be appreciated.

View attachment 3015

Scientists in Switzerland have discovered a new method to enhance perovskite solar cell performance by securing rubidium (Rb) within the material, thus significantly lowering energy loss and increasing efficiency.

Led by Lukas Pfeifer, PhD, and Likai Zheng, PhD, from the Swiss Federal Technology Institute of Lausanne (EPFL), the team managed to keep rubidium ions locked into the crystal framework of the perovskite – a group of materials known for their high efficiency and low manufacturing costs in solar cell applications – by applying lattice strain.

By utilizing the controlled distortion in the atomic structure, the pioneering approach not only stabilized wide-bandgap (WBG) material but also improved efficiency by cutting non-radiative recombination, a major cause of energy loss.

https://interestingengineering.com/energy/strain-trick-improves-perovskite-cells-efficiency
Click to expand...
Thanks for sharing.
 
IanD said:
Just like batteries, that's what a lot of the "SOLAR CELL BREAKTHROUGH!!!" promoters fail to understand -- no matter how good the efficiency is in the lab, it'll never make it out into widespread use in the real world unless the cells can be made cheaply in massive volumes and don't need any expensive/rare/exotic materials. And the problem is that this is exactly what almost all the "super-solar-cells" rely on, especially multilayer ones which are also very expensive to make and not easily scalable to big volumes -- to get high quantum efficiency needs structures like this.

So I'm not sure that extrapolation from historical trends can be relied on, commercial high-volume low-cost cell efficiency will hit a brick wall when everything cost-effective using common materials has been done -- which at the moment looks like perovskite-on-silicon at around 30% efficiency. Maybe something better will come along but lots of people have been looking for years, and there's no sign of anything better coming out of the labs -- 50% efficient cells that cost 100x as much are a curiosity, not a solution... ;-)
Click to expand...
In addition to your comments about manufacturing (which are quite valid), there is also the issue of durability. If it is so fragile you can't move it, or the first sleet storm destroys it, what good is it?

I was producing fusion in a lab 35 years ago in the Fusion Studies lab at UIUC using a dense plasma focus design (research for a fusion space thruster). Still no commercially viable fusion reactors today! And no fusion drive for a space ship either :(
 
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