11 research outputs found
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Back-Contact Perovskite Solar Cells
Interdigitated back-contact (IBC) architectures are the best performing technology in crystalline Si (c-Si) photovoltaics (PV). Although single junction perovskite solar cells have now surpassed 23% efficiency, most of the research has mainly focussed on planar and mesostructured architectures. The number of studies involving IBC devices is still limited and the proposed architectures are unfeasible for large scale manufacturing. Here we discuss the importance of IBC solar cells as a powerful tool for investigating the fundamental working mechanisms of perovskite materials. We show a detailed fabrication protocol for IBC perovskite devices that does not involve photolithography and metal evaporation. The interview is available at https://youtu.be/nvuNC29TvOY.The authors thank the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC). XMaS is a mid-range facility supported by the EPSRC. The authors also thank all the XMaS beamline team staff for their support. M.A.-J. thanks Cambridge Materials Limited and EPSRC (EP/M005143/1) for their funding and technical support. M.A. acknowledges support from the President of the UAE’s Distinguished Student Scholarship Program (DSS), granted by the UAE’s Ministry of Presidential Affairs
Metal-encapsulated organolead halide perovskite photocathode for solar-driven hydrogen evolution in water.
Lead-halide perovskites have triggered the latest breakthrough in photovoltaic technology. Despite the great promise shown by these materials, their instability towards water even in the presence of low amounts of moisture makes them, a priori, unsuitable for their direct use as light harvesters in aqueous solution for the production of hydrogen through water splitting. Here, we present a simple method that enables their use in photoelectrocatalytic hydrogen evolution while immersed in an aqueous solution. Field's metal, a fusible InBiSn alloy, is used to efficiently protect the perovskite from water while simultaneously allowing the photogenerated electrons to reach a Pt hydrogen evolution catalyst. A record photocurrent density of -9.8 mA cm(-2) at 0 V versus RHE with an onset potential as positive as 0.95±0.03 V versus RHE is obtained. The photoelectrodes show remarkable stability retaining more than 80% of their initial photocurrent for ∼1 h under continuous illumination.The research leading to these results has received funding from the People Programme (Marie Curie Actions) of the European Union’s Seventh Framework Programme FP7-PEOPLE-2013-IEF under REA Grant Agreement No. (623061; M.C-Q.). This work was also supported by the Christian Doppler Research Association (Austrian Federal Ministry of Science, Research and Economy and the National Foundation for Research, Technology and Development) and the OMV Group (J.W., M.F.K. and E.R.); L.M.P.-O. would like to thank the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council of the UK (EPSRC), the Cambridge Home European Scholarship Scheme (CHESS) and King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology (KACST)
A Silicon-Singlet Fission Tandem Solar Cell Exceeding 100% External Quantum Efficiency with High Spectral Stability.
After 60 years of research, silicon solar cell efficiency saturated close to the theoretical limit, and radically new approaches are needed to further improve the efficiency. The use of tandem systems raises this theoretical power conversion efficiency limit from 34% to 45%. We present the advantageous spectral stability of using voltage-matched tandem solar cells with respect to their traditional series-connected counterparts and experimentally demonstrate how singlet fission can be used to produce simple voltage-matched tandems. Our singlet fission silicon-pentacene tandem solar cell shows efficient photocurrent addition. This allows the tandem system to benefit from carrier multiplication and to produce an external quantum efficiency exceeding 100% at the main absorption peak of pentacene.This work is part of the research programme of the Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research (NWO). The authors acknowledge financial support from the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council of the UK (EPSRC) and King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology (KACST). LMPO acknowledges the Cambridge Home European Scholarship Scheme (CHESS). MT acknowledges the Gates Cambridge Trust and the Winton Program for the Physics of Sustainability
Charge extraction via graded doping of hole transport layers gives highly luminescent and stable metal halide perovskite devices.
One source of instability in perovskite solar cells (PSCs) is interfacial defects, particularly those that exist between the perovskite and the hole transport layer (HTL). We demonstrate that thermally evaporated dopant-free tetracene (120 nm) on top of the perovskite layer, capped with a lithium-doped Spiro-OMeTAD layer (200 nm) and top gold electrode, offers an excellent hole-extracting stack with minimal interfacial defect levels. For a perovskite layer interfaced between these graded HTLs and a mesoporous TiO2 electron-extracting layer, its photoluminescence yield reaches 15% compared to 5% for the perovskite layer interfaced between TiO2 and Spiro-OMeTAD alone. For PSCs with graded HTL structure, we demonstrate efficiency of up to 21.6% and an extended power output of over 550 hours of continuous illumination at AM1.5G, retaining more than 90% of the initial performance and thus validating our approach. Our findings represent a breakthrough in the construction of stable PSCs with minimized nonradiative losses.Cambridge Materials Limite
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Photon recycling in lead iodide perovskite solar cells.
Lead-halide perovskites have emerged as high-performance photovoltaic materials. We mapped the propagation of photogenerated luminescence and charges from a local photoexcitation spot in thin films of lead tri-iodide perovskites. We observed light emission at distances of ≥50 micrometers and found that the peak of the internal photon spectrum red-shifts from 765 to ≥800 nanometers. We used a lateral-contact solar cell with selective electron- and hole-collecting contacts and observed that charge extraction for photoexcitation >50 micrometers away from the contacts arose from repeated recycling between photons and electron-hole pairs. Thus, energy transport is not limited by diffusive charge transport but can occur over long distances through multiple absorption-diffusion-emission events. This process creates high excitation densities within the perovskite layer and allows high open-circuit voltages.The authors acknowledge financial support from the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council of the UK (EPSRC) and King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology (KACST). L.M.P.O. and H.J.B. also thank the Nano doctoral training center (NanoDTC) for financial support. M.S., M.V. and J.M.R. thank the Winton programme for the physics of sustainability. M.C.Q would like to thank the Marie Curie Actions (FP7-PEOPLE-IEF2013) for funding. M.A.J. thanks Nyak Technology Ltd for PhD scholarship and B.E. acknowledges the Foundation for Fundamental Research on Matter (FOM), which is part of the Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research (NWO). F.D. acknowledges funding through a Herchel Smith Research Fellowship. We acknowledge Prof. Henning Sirringhaus, Prof. Neil Greenham, Prof. Ullrich Steiner, Dr. Erwin Reisner and Prof. Richard Phillips for providing support and access to their facilities.This is the author accepted manuscript. The final version is available from the American Association for the Advancement of Science via http://dx.doi.org/10.1126/science.aaf116
Ultraefficient thermophotovoltaic power conversion by band-edge spectral filtering
Thermophotovoltaic power conversion utilizes thermal radiation from a local heat source to generate electricity in a photovoltaic cell. It was shown in recent years that the addition of a highly reflective rear mirror to a solar cell maximizes the extraction of luminescence. This, in turn, boosts the voltage, enabling the creation of record-breaking solar efficiency. Now we report that the rear mirror can be used to create thermophotovoltaic systems with unprecedented high thermophotovoltaic efficiency. This mirror reflects low-energy infrared photons back into the heat source, recovering their energy. Therefore, the rear mirror serves a dual function; boosting the voltage and reusing infrared thermal photons. This allows the possibility of a practical >50% efficient thermophotovoltaic system. Based on this reflective rear mirror concept, we report a thermophotovoltaic efficiency of 29.1 ± 0.4% at an emitter temperature of 1,207 °C
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Ultraefficient thermophotovoltaic power conversion by band-edge spectral filtering.
Thermophotovoltaic power conversion utilizes thermal radiation from a local heat source to generate electricity in a photovoltaic cell. It was shown in recent years that the addition of a highly reflective rear mirror to a solar cell maximizes the extraction of luminescence. This, in turn, boosts the voltage, enabling the creation of record-breaking solar efficiency. Now we report that the rear mirror can be used to create thermophotovoltaic systems with unprecedented high thermophotovoltaic efficiency. This mirror reflects low-energy infrared photons back into the heat source, recovering their energy. Therefore, the rear mirror serves a dual function; boosting the voltage and reusing infrared thermal photons. This allows the possibility of a practical >50% efficient thermophotovoltaic system. Based on this reflective rear mirror concept, we report a thermophotovoltaic efficiency of 29.1 ± 0.4% at an emitter temperature of 1,207 °C
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Research data supporting "Photon recycling in lead-iodide perovskite solar cells"
Data for the figures presented in the manuscript.These research data support “Photon recycling in lead-iodide perovskite solar cells” published in “Science” (http://dx.doi.org./10.1126/science.aaf1168)This work was supported by the EPSRC [grant number EP/M005143/1] and Winton Programme for the Physics of Sustainability