Perovskite-silicon tandem solar cell with 23.5% performance

• United States and South Korean scientists claim to have actually achieved a power conversion performance of 23.50% in a perovskite-silicon tandem solar cell developed with a special distinctive anti-reflective layer (ARC) polymeric film. The cell is likewise able to maintain 91% of its first effectiveness after 120 hours.

Scientists from South Korea's Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology (UNIST) and also the College of Pittsburgh case to have attained a power conversion effectiveness of 23.50% in a perovskite-silicon tandem solar cell by using a special distinctive anti-reflective finish (ARC) polymeric film.

They fabricated the multifunctional film with phosphor particles measuring 10 μm in diameter. They are able to block ultraviolet (UV) light and also silicon dioxide (SiO2) nanoparticles with a diameter of 10 nm to boost the ability of a perovskite-silicon tandem solar cell to absorb visible light.

The researchers claimed the phosphors enhance the reflectance of the ARC film, because of their large particle dimension, thus creating a backward light scattering issue. This subsequently is compensated by the addition of the spherical SiO2 nanoparticles.

"Experimental and also computational results show that SiO2 nanoparticles in the ARC film reduce the reflectance by boosting the scattered transmittance," they claimed, noting that the phosphor particles are able to absorb ultraviolet light with a wavelength of 380 nm and also convert it right into green visible light with a wavelength of 530 nm.

The film permitted the scientists to increase the effectiveness of the solar cell by 4.5%. The cell was also able to preserve 91% of its preliminary effectiveness after 120 hours, while a referral device without the film only preserved 50% of its effectiveness after 20 hrs.

"This optically engineered ARC film effectively promotes the light absorption of the perovskite/silicon tandem solar cell, resulting in the renovation of power conversion effectiveness of the tandem cell from 22.48% to 23.50%," the academics stated.

The researchers explained the cell technology in "Improving Light Absorption in a Perovskite/Si Tandem Solar Cell via Light Scattering as well as UV-Down Shifting by a Mixture of SiO2 Nanoparticles and also Phosphors," which was just recently released in Advanced Functional Materials.