3D-printed system speeds up solar cell testing from hours to minutes

• Tests on brand-new designs for next-gen solar cells can now be done in hrs instead of days thanks to a brand-new system built by scientists at Australia's Monash University, including 3D-printed essential parts.

The equipment can analyse 16 sample perovskite-based solar cells all at once, in parallel, considerably accelerating the process.

The creation suggests that the efficiency and also business capacity of new compounds can be extremely quickly evaluated, significantly speeding up the advancement process.

" Third generation perovskite cells have actually enhanced efficiency to above 25%, which is nearly identical to the effectiveness level for standard silicon-based ones," stated project leader Mr Adam Surmiak from the ARC Centre of Excellence in Exciton Science (Exciton Science).

" But those results are from research laboratory tests on millimetre-sized samples in indoor conditions - and also consequently do not take into consideration a whole variety of real-world aspects such as environmental problems, the usage to which the cells are put, the manufacturing procedure, as well as possible damage in time.

" To make correct choices, we require to know just how each various cell layout will operate at large ranges in the real world - and to do that we require an appropriate data collection so we can select the very best prospects to take to that next stage. This brand-new system lets us build that extremely rapidly and also accelerate transition from lab to construction."

Obtaining the dish right for perovskite solar cells is considered critically important to the transition away from fossil fuels as well as towards renewable energy generation. They set you back concerning 10 times less than silicon cells and also are more affordable to manufacture.

Roof solar panels made from perovskite will pay for themselves within months instead of years, which holds true with existing designs.

To achieve the high degree of precision needed to build the system, PhD candidate Surmiak and also his associates turned to Monash University's Instrumentation Facility and also the Melbourne Centre for Nanofabrication, part of the Australian National Fabrication Facility - very specialized machining and tools facilities. There, the scientists' layouts were created utilizing ultra-detailed milling and a 16-micrometre accuracy 3D printer.

Together with the growth and set up of this new testing facility, Mr Surmiak was likewise able to considerably accelerate the real solar cell construction process.

The head of the Monash University laboratory in which Surmiak works, Professor Udo Bach, a primary detective with Exciton Science, described the invention as world-leading.

" Experimental high-throughput ideas will certainly become increasingly vital for the exploration of the future generation of power products, fueling the change to a carbon-neutral energy economic situation," he claimed.

" Our new set up has the capability to check hundreds of solar cells in one solitary day, placing us ahead of virtually all other R as well as D laboratories worldwide."