The European Research Council (ERC) has approved a five-year study which will study the atomic-level structure of a new type of solar cell material. This aims to address issues including stability and lifespan of metal halide perovskite compounds, which decrease in high humidity, strong sunlight and at elevated temperatures.
While the properties of perovskite solar cells change in a range of atmospheric conditions, they remain ‘remarkably’ stable outside the Earth’s atmosphere, researchers said. This suggests potential for harvesting energy in space – a topical area of research, after the European Space Agency revealed it would be investigating whether satellites could beam electricity back to Earth earlier this year.
Using Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR), an analytical chemistry technique that harnesses high magnetic fields and radiofrequencies targeted at atomic nuclei, scientists hope to discover what is causing this type of solar cell material to degrade at the atomic level.
The ERC Starting Grant of £2.2m will involve the purchase of a 400MHz solid-state NMR spectrometer worth £0.9m, with unique capabilities that are currently not available in West Midlands.
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It will be installed specifically for this project, enabling researchers to investigate the atomic-level structure of solar cells. The eventual aim is to help improve the durability of these devices, so they can be relied on for decades to come.
According to researchers, these new solar cells can be viable in applications where currently used silicon solar cells fall short. This includes indoor light harvesting, use on highly flexible substrates such as foils and fabrics, and in windows which require the material to be partially transparent.
“Silicon is the current material used in solar cells and while those devices have a long durability of over 20 years, they have certain limitations. Solar cells need to be relatively thick; silicon is brittle, and it succumbs to cosmic radiation,” said Dr Dominik J. Kubicki, an assistant professor in Warwick University’s Department of Physics, who is leading the research.
“Metal halide perovskites enable us to overcome these limitations, diversify the ways in which we can harvest solar energy, and apply them in contexts we had not previously anticipated. Investigating these materials will be very exciting, and we hope to find out how to make them more stable.”
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