Arrays of personal and home devices could one day work without batteries, following the development of new pioneering solar technology.
These new solar cells can extract energy from indoor light. Researchers said the discovery has a wide range of applications, which could allow consumers to use only indoor ambient light to power devices such as keyboards, alarms and sensors.
In the study, published April 30 in Journal Advanced Functional Materials, researchers used perovskite to collect light into solar cells. This material is already used in other solar cells, offering a distinct advantage over traditional silicon-based solar panels. In particular, perovskites, research suggest, efficiently absorb lower power ambient light than traditional methods, making them ideal for indoor use.
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Researchers’ new perovskite cells are six times more efficient than silicon-based solar cells, the researchers found.
In the long term, perovskite-derived solar cells represent a more sustainable and cost-effective alternative to batteries, says Modhtaba Abdi Jalebi, an associate professor at the Institute of Material Discovery, an associate professor of energy materials at London University of London.
“Billions of devices that require small amounts of energy rely on replacing batteries. This is an unsustainable practice. This number increases as the Internet of Things expands,” Jalebi said in a statement.
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“Solar cells that capture energy from indoor light are now expensive and inefficient. Specially designed perovskite indoor solar cells can harvest much more energy than commercially available cells and are more durable than other prototypes.
Perovskite composition challenges
Perovskite is already becoming a popular material for use in solar panels, with significant advantages over silicon-based materials.
However, while its application is promising, the material has some drawbacks in terms of stability and lifespan.
The key factor here is the “trap.” The crystal structure of perovskites is very small defect. These traps allow electrons to become clogged into small defects and depressions in the material, preventing energy from being utilized.
Additionally, traps block the flow of electricity, but the nonlinear charge flow through the material accelerates the decomposition of the material over time.
To counter this, the researchers behind the new study used a combination of chemicals to reduce the amount of these defects. This included the application of rubidium chloride, which “promoted more homogeneous growth” of perovskite crystals, reducing the density of the traps, the statement said.
Two other chemicals, N,N-dimethyloctylammonium (DmoAI) and the Chloride Phenomena (PEACL), both applied both organic salts of ammonium to stabilize the two ions (iodides and bromides) and prevent them from being separated. This will help address the issue of long-term performance degradation in solar cells, the study states.
“The solar cells with these small defects are like cut into pieces of cakes. A combination of strategies allows this cake to be reverted again and recharged more easily,” said the research chief shimming Huang, a doctoral student at UCL’s Institute of Material Discovery.
Benefits of Marked Performance
After addressing the trap issue, researchers found that solar cells converted 37.6% of indoor light to electricity. This was achieved with 1,000 lux, the researchers said, or equivalent to a “bright office.”
Long-term durability was also improved, the study found that solar cells retained 92% of their performance over 100 days. In comparison, control devices with no altered perovskites retained 76% of their initial performance to remove defects.
Jalebi said the team is discussing industry stakeholders and investigating “scaling up strategies and commercial deployments” for perovskite solar cells.
“The advantage of perovskite solar cells in particular is that they are low cost. They use materials that only require abundant and simple processing on the planet. They can be printed in the same way as newspapers,” Jalebi said.
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