ROORKEE : Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee (IIT Roorkee) researchers led by Prof. Soumitra Satapathi from the Department of Physics have successfully developed high-quality perovskite solar cells.
The prototype has shown a stabilised power conversion efficiency of 17.05%, which is one of the highest reported PCEs for quasi-two-dimensional (2D) perovskite. The modified perovskite solar cell leads to the optimum phase distribution, enlarged grain size, and improved crystallinity. This finding offers new opportunities and the development of highly efficient perovskite solar cells with long-term operational stability.
Among all the renewable energy sources, the sun’s energy is considered the most sustainable due to its ample availability on the earth’s surface. And just over a decade ago, perovskite solar cells established themselves as the next generation of photovoltaic technology due to their comparably higher PCE and cheaper and simpler manufacturing processes than silicon solar cells. Several methods and processes have been developed based on the potential to produce high-quality perovskite solar cells.
The quasi-2D layered perovskites have gained significant attention recently for their exceptional optoelectronic properties, structural diversity, and excellent ambient stability. These additives can effectively control the perovskite growth kinetics and exhibit an efficient role as passivating agents for defect annihilation. This has motivated Prof. Satapathi and his team, including Ms. Yukta, Research Scholar, IIT Roorkee, to take up this research to develop low-cost and highly efficient perovskite solar cells.
The research article for the finding has been published in journal ACS Applied Energy Materials (DOI: https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acsaem.2c02398)
Talking about the significance of Perovskite Solar Cells and its future, Prof. Soumitra Satapathi, Department of Physics, IIT Roorkee, said, “Perovskite solar cells have demonstrated competitive power conversion efficiencies with potential for higher performance, but their stability is limited compared to leading alternatives. Our main aim is to optimize the efficiency and to reduce the cost of manufacturing for Perovskite solar Cells as much as possible.”
Prof. Soumitra Satapathi further added, “The perovskite solar cell developed by us are low cost and can be used as an alternative for silicon solar cells. This is also the first prototype solar cells exclusively developed in IIT Roorkee.”
Prof Akshay Dvivedi, Dean of Sponsored Research and Industrial Consultancy, IIT Roorkee, expressed his happiness that researchers from IIT Roorkee are developing technologies in the most recent areas. He mentioned that the current market size of PSC is less than 1 USD which is expected to grow to USD 7 billion-plus by 2030, where the work of Prof Satapathi will help in industry growth.
Prof. K. K. Pant, Director IIT Roorkee, said, “There is a growing demand worldwide for the transition towards a carbon-neutral economy. During the last decade, perovskite solar cells (PSC) have emerged as a potential low-cost photovoltaics technology. The PSCs developed at IIT Roorkee is an important step towards developing efficient and stable solar cells.”
Prof Pant added that this technological development would boost self-reliance in India in the field of renewable energy. He mentioned that Institute encourages the development of such technologies, which have the potential of not only commercialization but also help in achieving national priorities.
