Improving the efficiency of solar cells is paramount because it also increases the amount of energy generated from the same surface. In the bid to push for better yield, scientists have scored another milestone.
Latest reports say that researchers have succeeded in hitting efficiency of 29.15 percent in the petrovskite/silicon tandem solar cell category. At the present time, the report says that there are many technologies used in converting solar energy into electricity. There has been a long-term target of 30 percent, which the latest technology has put within reach of the scientists.
Up till now, the efficiency had only reached 28 percent petrovskite/silicon tandem solar cell category. The researchers claim that tandem solar cells that pair silicon with a metal halide petrovskite are a promising option for reaching beyond the single-cell efficiency limit.
The two products, silicon, and petrovskite were being developed apart from each other as semiconductor solar materials for solar panel use. Silicon materials have been used much longer than petrovskite. Silicon remains the standard in solar farms worldwide.
The other material, petrovskite, is the up and coming material, and a new challenger, that some experts think may be more useful than silicon in the future if they get things right.
For this reason, researchers have been experimenting with different types of petrovskites to see how effective they can be. These researches are carried out alongside the use of silicon. The advantage here is that using both in a panel doesn’t add unnecessarily to the cost. For this is very important in getting solar panels rolled very fast and making them reach far distant markets.
After 300 hours of simulated use, the new tandem cell retained 95 percent of its original efficiency, which researchers claim is a good sign as well. However, the scientists involved in this feat are not resting yet because they believe solar cell technology should be able to reach efficiency rates of well above 30 percent.
