IIT-G develops highly efficient solar cells to produce power from sunlight

GUWAHATI, Dec 22: A research team at the Indian Institute of Technology-Guwahati (IIT-G) here has developed highly efficient, cost-effective perovskite-based solar cells or photovoltaic devices to produce electricity from sunlight.

“These solar cells, which are easy to manufacture and easily recyclable, have been developed to achieve power conversion efficiency beyond 21 percent by utilising economical solution-based photovoltaic device-processing techniques at mild room temperature and realising high ambient, thermal and optical stability,” an IIT-G statement stated on Wednesday.

Solar energy is considered to be the most sustainable among all the renewable energy sources, owing to its ample availability on the surface of the earth.

The research team at IIT Guwahati comprising research scholars, Rabindranath Garai (Department of Chemistry), Ritesh Kant Gupta (Centre for Nanotechnology), Arvin Sain Tanwar (Department of Chemistry) and Maimur Hossain (Department of Chemistry), working under the supervision of Prof. Parameswar K. Iyer, Department of Chemistry and Centre for Nanotechnology and School for Health Science and Technology, IIT Guwahati, have achieved remarkable results in terms of efficiency and stability of the perovskite-based solar cells (PSCs).

In this recent study of IIT Guwahati, published in the American Chemical Society journal, Chemistry of Materials, charged conjugated polymers have been incorporated in photovoltaic devices as a passivation molecule to achieve defect-free high-quality perovskite solar cell devices.

“The passivated defect-free device reveals a high efficiency of 20.17 percent with excellent reproducibility. Such polymer-based passivation method effectively improved the long-term device stability by improving the hydrophobicity of the perovskite layer,” the statement said.

In another recent investigation of the IIT-G team, published in The Royal Society of Chemistry journal, Journal of Materials Chemistry,  the researchers demonstrated the development of solution-processed multi-dimensional (2D-3D) graded perovskites and the precise role of surface recrystallisation to achieve very high efficiency, stability, economical device scalability by mitigating the perovskite defects.

Currently, inorganic solar cells (silicon-based) are a major player in the market. However, this technology requires high-temperature processing, increasing the price of solar panels. Further, the recycling of solar panels is hazardous and complicated.

Speaking on the research output, Prof. Parameswar K. Iyer said organic-inorganic hybrid PSCs have experienced rapid growth in terms of efficiency and stability due to the development of highly efficient functional materials combined with careful device engineering.

“The materials’ design can be tailored at the molecular level whereas the fabrication process is printable and solution-based, making the overall solar cell development process economical and scalable,” Prof. Iyer said.

The results obtained from perovskite solar cells have performed well beyond the commercial inorganic solar cells panels which are available in the market.

“Therefore, the strategies being developed have the potential to address the renewable energy challenges regarding the large-scale commercial fabrication of efficient and stable solar panels,” the statement said.

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