KAUST team reports results of 1 year outdoor testing of perovskite/silicon tandem solar cells

• Scientists from Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah University of Science and also Technology (KAUST) have actually reported the results of an one-year outdoor test for a tandem perovskite-silicon solar cell they developed in 2020. They have located that the device retained greater than 80% of its initial performance throughout the testing period between April 2021 as well as April 2022.

The team's results are actual outdoor measurement over months and months, as opposed to testing carried out in a lab-controlled environment. The group is still performing examinations, aiming to concentrate on stability and also reach at the very least a two-decade operation goal.

In the current report, the research study group stressed the value of robust encapsulation to minimize encapsulation-related failures. The scientists soldered 2 metal wires on both sides of the cell to prolong the electrode contacts. They then enveloped the device in between two layers of thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU) and glass prior to component lamination.

They deployed the tandem solar cell at a tilt angle of 25 degrees as well as a southerly positioning. They after that tested it at a KAUST testing center in Saudi Arabia, with a global horizontal irradiance (GHI) of roughly 2,240 kWh per square meter.

" The combination of high irradiance, high temperature, and high relative humidity makes this offered place a tough environment for perovskite-based solar cells however a most relevant place to examine the outdoor durability of PV technologies," stated the researchers.

The tandem gadget's fill factor remained above 78% for the very first 4 months and then gradually reduced from August till December to around 72%. At the end of the very first year of operation, it remained above 70%.

" Knowing that the fill element is the parameter that is most prone to break down outdoors, the results are guaranteeing toward accomplishing stable tandem technology," the researchers stated.

They noted that by the end of April 2021, the cell was still able to retain more than 80% of its initial effectiveness.

" It is a large jump for us in regards to outdoor stability yet it is clear that we have room for enhancement," researcher Maxime Babics said. "It is likewise crucial to discuss that this generation of tandems was created in our lab at the end of 2020 as well as I am positive to say that the brand-new generation of the tandem that we are producing right now can give much better results."