Newest research on perovskites for solar cell production

• A team of German scientists from HZB has performed a thorough research of methylammonium lead iodide structure. The crystal is among the most high-potential perovskites for solar cells. The researchers have discovered some properties, which are likely to help cope with the existing challenges and create cells that can boast both high efficiency and stability.

What keeps perovskite from commercial application in photovoltaic cell production is high moisture sensitivity level and open-air instability. In spite of huge progress achieved and lots of innovations presented, no universal solution has been found yet. 

The maximum conversion efficiency has been registered for hybrid perovskite PV cells. However, many scientists focus on entirely inorganic perovskites. They find inorganic structures more stable and take efforts to increase their efficiency. Most of the R&D is aimed at solving the existing challenge of unstable structure without compromising the efficiency.

A group of scientists from Berlin-based center of materials and energy has conducted a series of tests on the synchrotron science facility in Oxfordshire. The goal of experimenting was to get a deeper insight into methylammonium lead iodide structure. The latter compound is among the most attractive perovskites for commercial application. 

The researchers have concluded that there is no inversion center in the crystalline structure of the compound, which disproves the previous suggestions. The above conclusion indicates that the perovskite in question can contain areas of ferroelectricity. This property is likely to considerably improve conversion efficiency of solar device.

Inorganic perovskite materials cannot boast similar properties, which makes their efficiency potential much lower than that of organic-inorganic structures.