Monolithic perovskite-silicon tandem cells: towards commercial reality
Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) R&D Project (2018 - 2021)
Investigators: The Australian National University: Prof. Kylie Catchpole, A/Prof. Klaus Weber, A/Prof. Tom White
Research Fellows: Dr Yiliang Wu (ANU)
Industry Partner: Jinko Solar
Summary
In this project, ANU is working with Jinko Solar to develop new approaches for perovskite-silicon tandem solar cells. The efficiency of standard silicon solar cells is limited due to the way they absorb light. This project will work to develop innovative, high efficiency solar cells using a combination of perovskite materials and silicon. Using perovskites will allow higher efficiency by making better use of blue light in the solar spectrum. ANU previously achieved a world record efficiency for perovskite-silicon tandems, and together with Jinko Solar will build on this work to produce larger, more efficient and more stable solar cells that have the potential for commercialisation.
Photo of a 4 square centimetre monolithic perovskite-silicon tandem solar cell fabricated at ANU (Y. Wu, ANU).
ARENA project page: https://arena.gov.au/projects/development-stable-electrodes-perovskite-solar-cells/
Research outputs:
-
Y. Wu, A. Fell, and K. J. Weber, “A step-by-step optimization of the c-Si bottom cell in monolithic perovskite/c-Si tandem devices,” Solar Sol. RRL, 2, 1800193 (2018). DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/solr.201800193
-
Y. Wu, D. Yan, J. Peng, T. Duong, Y. Wan, P. Phang, … & K. J. Weber “Monolithic perovskite/silicon-homojunction tandem solar cell with over 22% efficiency,” SiliconPV 2018 (the 8th International Conference on Silicon Photovoltaics), Lausanne, Mar 2018.
-
Y. Wu, A. Fell, & K. J. Weber, “A Step by step optimization of c-Si subcell in perovskite/c-Si monolithic tandem,” APSRC 2018 (Asia-Pacific Solar Research Conference), Sydney, Dec 2018.
Monolithic Si/Perovskite Tandem Solar Cell: Towards High-Efficiency at Low-Cost
Investigators:
-
The Australian National University: Prof. Kylie Catchpole, Dr. Heping Shen, A/Prof. Klaus Weber, A/Prof. Tom White, Prof. Daniel Machdonald, Dr. Pheng Phang, Dr. Lachlan Black
-
University of Melbourne: Dr. James Bullock
-
Research Fellows: Dr Leiping Duan (ANU)
Industry Partner: Risen Energy
Other collaborator: King Abdullah University of Science and Technology, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne
Summary
This project brings together an integrated team of international experts from academia and industry to significantly reduce Si/perovskite tandem cost through development of new concepts and advanced designs. ANU has recently developed a ground-breaking and fundamentally-different Si/perovskite tandem structure that contributes to tandem cost reduction by eliminating the commonly-used interconnect layer connecting the two sub-cells, while retaining high-efficiency and being particularly advantageous for upscaling.
Building on this innovation and recent outcomes of ARENA projects, this project aims to further reduce the tandem cost while achieving high conversion efficiency and excellent stability. We will do this by making substantial improvements to device designs as well as optimising materials and processes, thus providing a clear pathway to commercialisation and contributing to an affordable renewable energy future.
Schematic of the interlayer-free monolithic perovskite/crystalline-silicon (c-Si) tandem solar cell (not to scale)
Research outputs:
-
Heping Shen, Stefan Omelchenko, Daniel Jacobs, Sisir Yalamanchili, Yimao Wan, Di Yan, Pheng Phang, Yiliang Wu, Yanting Yin, Christian Samundsett, Jun Peng, Nandi Wu, Thomas P White, Gunther G Andersson, Nathan Lewis, Kylie Catchpole, “In Situ Recombination Junction Between p-Si and TiO2 Enables High-efficiency Monolithic Perovskite/Si Tandem Cells”, Science Advances 2018;4: eaau9711.
-
Heping Shen, Daniel Walter, Yiliang Wu, Kean Fong, Daniel Jacobs, The Duong, Jun Peng, Klaus Weber, Thomas White, Kylie Catchpole, “Monolithic Perovskite/Si Tandem Solar Cells: Pathways to Over 30% Efficiency”, Advanced Energy Materials 2019, 1902840.
