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					</table><p>In a new experiment aimed at improving organic solar cells (OSC) efficiency to maintain long-term stability, scientists found that addressing the issue of electron donor polymer chain twisting can enable these cells to produce affordable and efficient energy over the long term.</p>
<p>In the new work published in the journal <a href="https://www.cell.com/joule/home" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Joule</a>, research teams from the <a href="https://www.universityofcalifornia.edu/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">University of California</a> Cavendish Laboratory and scientists from the United Kingdom, Belgium, and Italy focussed on the degradation mechanisms for two components used in the light-absorbing layer of organic solar cells: the electron donor and electron acceptor materials.</p>
<p>These two components are needed to split the bound electron-hole pair formed after the absorption of a photon into the free electrons and holes that constitute an electrical current.</p>
<p>They observed polymer twisting in three donor polymers to measure the charge generation yield.</p>
<p>The teams subjected the operational solar cells to ultrafast laser spectroscopy with its illumination equalling that of the sun and discovered that the donor polymer chain twists as a reaction to extreme heat.</p>
<p>The twisted polymer absorbed a photon and underwent an extremely rapid deactivation pathway on femtosecond timescales &#8211; a millionth billionth of a second.</p>
<p>The researchers concluded that designing new electron donor materials with more rigid polymer backbones could help reduce the propensity of the polymer to twist and improve the stability of the organic solar cell.</p>
<p>According to the lead author of the paper Alex Gillett, “It was interesting to find that something as seemingly minor as the twisting of a polymer chain could have such a large effect on the solar cell efficiency.”</p>
<p>While organic solar cells exhibit potential for clean energy applications, photovoltaic modules made from organic semiconductors do not maintain long-term efficiency under sunlight for real-world applications.</p>
<p>The researchers claimed that their findings pave ways to drive the design of more stable materials for organic semiconductor-based photovoltaics, thus enabling cheap and renewable electricity generation.</p>
<p>Last month, a team of material scientists at the UCLA Samueli School of Engineering in California claimed to have <a href="https://www.mercomindia.com/roof-organic-solar-cells-greenhouse" target="_blank" rel="noopener">designed</a> a solar roof with semi-transparent solar cells for a miniature greenhouse prototype, producing sufficient energy from sunlight to grow plants or crops.</p>
<p>In another similar experiment, researchers at IIT Kanpur claimed to have <a href="https://www.mercomindia.com/iit-researchers-say-organic-solar-roof-into-a-power-source" target="_blank" rel="noopener">developed</a> organic solar cells consisting of a combination of an organic polymer and PCBM — an organic semiconductor — on steel substrates that can possibly convert a steel roof into an energy-producing device.</p>


Rigid Electron Polymer Chains Could Boost Efficiency of Organic Solar Cells


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					</table><p>A team of researchers from<a href="https://www.northwestern.edu/" target="_blank" rel="noopener"> Northwestern University</a>, the <a href="https://www.utoronto.ca/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">University of Toronto</a>, and the <a href="https://www.utoledo.edu/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">University of Toledo</a> claim to have developed an all-perovskite tandem solar cell with a conversion efficiency of 27.4%, which is comparable with traditional silicon solar cells.</p>
<p>Additionally, perovskite tandem solar cells are less expensive to manufacture. The prototype shows an emerging photovoltaic technology that bypasses the need for silicon and overcomes key limits associated with silicon-based solar cells.</p>
<p>The cell was independently certified at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory in Colorado, delivering an efficiency of 26.3%. The team used industry-standard methods to measure the stability of the new cell and found that it maintained 86% of its initial efficiency after 500 hours of continuous operation.</p>
<p>Ted Sargent of the University of Toronto said, “Further improvements in the efficiency of solar cells are crucial for the ongoing decarbonization of our economy.” He explained that while silicon solar cells have undergone impressive advances, there are inherent limitations to their efficiency and cost arising from material properties. Perovskite technology can overcome these limitations.</p>
<p><strong>Silicon versus Perovskite Solar Cells </strong></p>
<p>Traditional solar cells are made from wafers of high-purity silicon, which is energetically costly to produce. In contrast, perovskite solar cells are built from nano-sized crystals that can be dispersed into a liquid and spin-coated onto a surface using low-cost techniques.</p>
<p>While the thickness of perovskites can be ‘tuned’ through the chemical composition of the crystal films, allowing it to absorb different wavelengths of light, silicon always absorbs the same part of the solar spectrum.</p>
<p>The team used two different layers of perovskite, each tuned to a different part of the solar spectrum, to produce a tandem solar cell.</p>
<p>“In our cell, the top perovskite layer has a wider band gap, which absorbs well in the ultraviolet part of the spectrum, as well as some visible light,” says Chongwen Li, a postdoctoral researcher in Sargent’s lab.</p>
<p>“The bottom layer has a narrow band gap, which is tuned more toward the infrared part of the spectrum. Between the two, we cover more of the spectrum than would be possible with silicon,” Li added.</p>
<p>The key innovation came when the team analyzed the interface between the perovskite layer, where light is absorbed and transformed into electrons, and the adjacent layer, known as the electron transport layer.</p>
<p>Co-lead author Aidan Maxwell said that the ability of perovskite technology to hold its own against silicon is encouraging. “In the last ten years, perovskite technology has come almost as far as silicon has in the last 40,” he added.</p>
<p><strong>Addressing Challenges </strong></p>
<p>Maxwell said that the electric field across the surface of the perovskite layer was not uniform. The team coated the surface of the perovskite layer with a substance known as 1,3-propanediammonium (PDA), which resulted in improvement.</p>
<p>“PDA has a positive charge, and it is able to even out the surface potential,” says postdoctoral fellow Hao Chen, another of the co-lead authors.</p>
<p>“When we added the coating, we got much better energetic alignment of the perovskite layer with the electron transport layer, and that led to a big improvement on our overall efficiency,” Hoa Chen added.</p>
<p>The researchers will now focus on further enhancing efficiency by increasing the current that runs through the cell and improves its stability. The aim is to enlarge the area of the cell so that it can be scaled up to commercial proportions.</p>
<p>Recently, China-based solar cell and module manufacturer Jinko Solar <a href="https://mercomindia.com/jinko-solar-achieves-record-conversion-efficiency-of-26-1-in-n-type-topcon-module/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">announced</a> achieving a record maximum solar conversion efficiency of 26.1% in its 182 mm N-type module, which is Jinko’s latest TOPCon (tunnel oxide passivated contact) cell technology. Earlier in the month, a team of researchers at the University of Alcala in Spain <a href="https://mercomindia.com/researchers-in-spain-way-to-cool-solar-panels/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">claimed</a> that a temperature reduction in solar modules by up to 20ºC can enhance the net system efficiency by about 14%.</p>


Researchers Claim Perovskite Tandem Solar Cell Shows 27.4% Efficiency

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