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But stability remains a formidable challenge.
in one last studyPublished in April in the journal Science, researchers have discovered a new way to build perovskite solar cells with additives that increase efficiency and lifespan. Cells withstood 1,500 hours of high heat and humidity in the laboratory.
The problem is translating these results into the real world. Simulating real-world conditions is difficult for researchers, and silicon has raised the bar with many manufacturers guaranteeing that their panels will retain 80% of their performance for 30 or even 40 years.
Finally field test, the researchers found that perovskite-based cells performed at more than 90% of their baseline levels after a few months. However, losing about 10% of a cell’s performance during this timeframe will not cut it.
Another wrinkle is that all of these tests were done using small cells. Scaling up perovskites and turning larger cells that can be put together into full-size solar panels often leads to declines in efficiency and lifetime.
These challenges mean that the day perovskites take over the solar markets isn’t as imminent or inevitable as some researchers have revealed.
Fine-tuning perovskites, through methods such as adding stabilizers and materials that protect them from the elements, could eventually make these solar cells last for several decades under normal operating conditions, he says. Letian Dou, a perovskite researcher at Purdue University. But he estimates it will be a decade or more before perovskites make meaningful commercial progress.
Despite the challenges, there is a real need for different types of solar cells. This is especially true now as demand for solar materials is booming, says Jenny Chase, head of solar analysis at Bloomberg New Energy Finance.
And perovskites don’t need to compete directly with silicon because they can be used in tandem cells where the perovskite layer is stacked on top of a silicon cell. Because the two materials capture different wavelengths of light, they can complement each other.
None of this will happen unless someone makes much more stable perovskite solar cells. But certainly, the researchers are not giving up. As Green puts it, “There’s still a chance that someone will actually nail it.”
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