Printable Solar Cells May Revolutionize Photovoltaics

Humanity uses more and more power, and finding a way to provide that power sustainably will be key to reducing climate change and providing the future terawatt-scale energy demands.

A research team at the City University of Hong Kong has developed printable perovskite solar cells that are more efficient, more stable, cost less, scalable, and have a minimal carbon footprint. Current silicon-based tech faces challenges like high production costs and limited product applications. Perovskite solar cells, however, achieve remarkable power conversion efficiency, have an estimated lifetime of 20 years, and are less dependent on incident angles and light intensity. They are also easily integrated with various applications (think building-integrated photovoltaics like semi-transparent windows and wearables).

These new perovskite solar cells use precursor inks, which can be easily coated and printed on a substrate, producing a thin polycrystalline film. This means rapid mass production with reduced energy consumption and production costs. The team claims that perovskite solar cells can be created at half the cost of silicon cells.

The team aims to establish a pilot production line within the next year and a half.