KAUST researchers have developed a perovskite ink tailor-made for a mass manufacturing process called slot-die coating, producing PSCs that captured solar energy with high efficiency. The ink could also be coated onto silicon to create perovskite/silicon tandem solar cells.

The planar p-i-n device architecture of the perovskite solar cell employed in the study. Image credit: KAUST

PSCs made in research labs are typically made by spin-coating, which is unsuited to mass manufacture. Slot-die coating, in contrast, is a manufacturing technique used industrially for many years. “The process involves continuously and precisely forcing an ink through a narrow slit that is moved across the substrate to form a continuous film,” Anand Subbiah, a postdoc in Stefaan De Wolf’s lab, said. “This high-throughput technique would allow for roll-to-roll fabrication, similar to printing newspapers.”

Oregon State University researchers have designed a perovskite-based way to inkjet-print circuitry, in a precise manner and at low processing temperatures, directly onto cloth.

"Much effort has gone into integrating sensors, displays, power sources and logic circuits into various fabrics for the creation of wearable, electronic textiles," said Chih-Hung Chang, professor of chemical engineering at Oregon State. "One hurdle is that fabricating rigid devices on cloth, which has a surface that's both porous and non-uniform, is tedious and expensive, requiring a lot of heat and energy, and is hard to scale up. And first putting the devices onto something solid, and then putting that solid substrate onto fabric, is problematic too - it limits the flexibility and wearability of the fabric and also can necessitate cumbersome changes to the fabric manufacturing process itself."

Kobe University's Associate Professor Tachikawa Takashi and Dr. Karimata Izuru have succeeded in completely substituting the halide ions of perovskite nanocrystals while maintaining their morphology and light-emitting efficiency.

Furthermore, by using techniques like single-particle photoluminescence imaging, the researchers were able to understand the momentary changes in light emission and the crystal structure, which enabled them to develop a principle for controlling ion composition.

Oxford PV, currently involved in building a manufacturing facility in Brandenburg an der Havel for its silicon perovskite tandem solar cells (in which it is investing around €44 million), has received €8.8 million funding from the state Ministry of Economics in Potsdam for this project.

“I am delighted that Oxford Photovoltaics has brought the solar technology developed by the company itself to market maturity and that it will soon start with industrial series production here in Brandenburg,” said Brandenburg Minister for Economic Affairs Jörg Steinbach. “The decision by Oxford PV to expand the production facility in Hohenstücke is a clear commitment to our community.”

Japan-based global conglomerate Toshiba, announced that it would not take any new orders for the construction work of coal-fired thermal facilities. The company is planning to shift towards renewable energy solutions.

According to Toshiba, the company will support the infrastructure sector’s transformation to achieve decarbonization goals. In addition to activities involving windmills and development of secondary batteries, Toshiba aims to commercialize its newly developed next-generation tandem and perovskite solar cells by 2025.

Researchers at HZB have reported findings from their recent work: printing and exploring different compositions of caesium based halide perovskites (CsPb(Br_xI_1−x)₃ (0 ≤ x ≤ 1)).

In a temperature range between room temperature and 300 Celsius, the team observed structural phase transitions influencing the electronic properties. The study presents a quick and easy method to assess new compositions of perovskite materials in order to identify potential candidates for applications in thin film solar cells and optoelectronic devices.

Under the Japan Science and Technology Agency (JST) Strategic Basic Research Programs, researcher Ayumi Ishii (Toin University of Yokohama, specially appointed lecturer) has developed a photodiode using a crystalline film composed of lead perovskite compounds with organic chiral molecules to detect circularly polarized light without a filter.

A technology to detect "polarization," or oscillation direction of light, can visualize object surfaces with damages, foreign objects, and distortions. Furthermore, detection of "circularly polarized light," or rotating electric field of light makes it possible for us to identify stress intensity and distribution of objects. Conventional photodiodes for camera or sensor applications cannot detect polarization of light directly, and therefore, various types of filters must be attached on top of the device to separate the information of polarization spatially. These structures cause substantial losses of sensitivity and resolution in the light detection, especially detection of circularly polarized light is heretofore considered difficult. Thus, it has been much sought-after to develop a new sensor for detection of circularly polarized light without any filters.