Researchers at the University of Maryland (UMD) have identified the impact of the environment on perovskite materials. To understand the physical and chemical processes that lead to degradation, the team exposed these materials to various environmental factors in the lab and measured their response using a technique called “in situ environmental photoluminescence (PL) to temporally and spectrally resolve the light emission within a loop of critical relative humidity (rH) levels.”

“We found that the humidity pathway determines the overall optical response of the perovskite materials, leading to a behavior called luminescence hysteresis, wherein the light emitted from the material depends not only on the current conditions but also the prior ones,” said the team. “Further, we found that the amount of luminescence hysteresis is highly dependent on the ratio between two critical elements constituting the perovskites: Cs and Br.”

Researchers at the University of Maryland (UMD) have identified the impact of the environment on perovskite materials. To understand the physical and chemical processes that lead to degradation, the team exposed these materials to various environmental factors in the lab and measured their response using a technique called “in situ environmental photoluminescence (PL) to temporally and spectrally resolve the light emission within a loop of critical relative humidity (rH) levels.”

“We found that the humidity pathway determines the overall optical response of the perovskite materials, leading to a behavior called luminescence hysteresis, wherein the light emitted from the material depends not only on the current conditions but also the prior ones,” said the team. “Further, we found that the amount of luminescence hysteresis is highly dependent on the ratio between two critical elements constituting the perovskites: Cs and Br.”

A team of researchers from Peking University and the Universities of Surrey, Oxford and Cambridge have developed a new way to reduce an unwanted process called non-radiative recombination, where energy and efficiency is lost in perovskite solar cells. This technique has reportedly produced "the highest performing inverted perovskite solar cell ever recorded".

The team created a technique called Solution-Process Secondary growth (SSG) which increased the voltage of inverted perovskite solar cells by 100 millivolts, reaching a high of 1.21 volts without compromising the quality of the solar cell or the electrical current flowing through a device. They tested the technique on a device which recorded a PCE of 20.9%, which is said to be the highest certified PCE for inverted perovskite solar cells ever recorded.

Microquanta Semiconductor has announced reaching "a new world record of 17.3% conversion efficiency for perovskite solar mini-module under newly established testing protocols for perovskite devices". This result was reportedly certified by the international test center Newport Corp.

Under these new protocols, the stabilized 17.3% efficiency rating was for a 7-cell perovskite solar module with designated illumination area of 17.277 cm². The best device reached an even higher number of 17.9% with conventional testing methods. The desired efficiency was achieved by further optimizations of perovskite materials and manufacturing processes. This is the company’s fourth continuous breakthrough regarding efficiency of perovskite solar modules and the first one under new internationally accepted protocols. Since 2017, Microquanta had pushed the efficiency record up from 15.2% to 16%, and then to above 17% before this new accomplishment.