In terms of the elements, silicon is the second element to oxygen in terms of the abundance of silicon on Earth. Due to its properties and the fact that it is a semiconductor, it has long been the foundation of electronic devices. The material is found in everything from radios to computer chips. It’s also the name for Silicon Valley, the technology hub located in California, Silicon Valley.
When we talk about the bright capital of technology, silicon is the principal element for solar cells. Three researchers from New Jersey’s Bell Telephone Company patented the first solar panel made of silicon–one of the very first solar cells that could be deemed practical with the ability to transform 6 percent of the sunlight into electricity usable in the 1950s. It has been the dominant material in the solar market since. More than 90 percent of solar panels made globally are made of silicon-based crystalline PV panels.
Silicon has gained such recognition and influence in the market and has had little competition from the solar market. It isn’t easy to believe that there are alternatives to solar. Alternatives for solar.
Perovskites, or crystal structures, are a new kind of solar cell comprised of common elements like methylammonium iodide lead. Perovskites are simpler to make and can convert sunlight into electricity faster than silicon cells. Perovskites are a challenge because they are very fragile.
Researchers at Stanford University, however, are learning from nature. To strengthen perovskites, they’ve looked at the muscular structure of the fly’s eye.
The eye of a compound fly comprises hundreds of hexagonal, segmented eyes that are protected by the organic proteins “scaffold” for protection. The eyes are organized into an elongated honeycomb design, and if one is damaged, it is still functioning. The entire organ shows reliability and redundancy that researchers hope to replicate in solar panels.
Reinhold Dauskardt, a member of his materials science engineering team, has developed a honeycomb-shaped structure that is just 500 microns across, made of the standard photoresist known as light-sensitive materials. For a different example from the natural world, in the same way, that bees create a honeycomb before filling it up with honey, scientists generate this structure to protect themselves and create the perovskite inside. They spin a mixture of elements in the scaffolding, heat it and observe it crystallizes to make the perovskite crystal structure and its photovoltaic characteristics. The researchers then coat it with silver-plated electrodes to protect it from the elements and allow it to store energy.
In a laboratory test that was preliminarily conducted, Dauskardt’s solar cells were the size of six hair strands and kept their structure and function. After exposure to extreme temperatures and high humidity (185 degrees Fahrenheit, 85 percent humidity) for six weeks, the cells continued to generate electric power at the same levels. The perovskites’ scaffolding did not stop the electrical output of their cells either.
This is a revolutionary achievement. Before this breakthrough, it was tough for scientists to control and develop photovoltaic perovskite cell structures or even for them to live in the real world.
“When I gave talks in the beginning of organic photovoltaics, I would say, ‘if you breathe on these materials they’ll fail.’ In the case of perovskites, I say ‘if you look at them they’ll fail,'” laughs Dauskardt, the study’s principal investigator released in Energy and Environment Science.
Perovskites are up to 100 times more fragile than glass. However, with the scaffold to strengthen it, the cell’s mechanical tensile strength is increased by about 30. It improves the mechanical and chemical durability of the cell, allowing researchers to touch it without breaking and expose it for exposure to high temperatures without risk of damage.
Researchers from The University of Tokyo first explored the perovskite solar cell as a possible alternative to silicon photovoltaic cells back in 2009; scientists around the globe jumped into the field. Perovskite solar cells offer advantages. Unlike silicon cells, which require a high-temperature process to remove and crystallize the perovskite solar cells, they are pretty easy to create.
“This is a breakthrough in one sect of perovskite research because it is solving problems that early-stage concepts face on the path to commercialization,” says Dick Co, director of outreach and operations at Argonne Northwestern solar energy research center (ANSER). But he also acknowledges that the research needs to be more general to apply to all perovskite-based studies of solar cells. There are myriad ways that perovskites solar cells could be constructed, and each research lab can have its research area.
Because the crystal structures can be constructed from various elements, various aesthetic options exist. Solar cells can be installed on exposed automobile tops, windows, or other surfaces. Certain companies are producing solar cells.
Co thinks that perovskite solar cells may first impact small-scale markets.
“I could see them being sold on iPad keyboard chargers, integrated into buildings and maybe on automobiles, such as the curved hood of a car,” he declares. “But it’s hard to imagine making a [prototype] perovskite solar cell the size of a thumbnail big and widely deployed, especially when silicon solar factories are pumping out enough modules to cover small countries.”
However, with advancements in performance and endurance, Researchers are on their path to developing cells that can generate electricity in all conditions. Researchers have submitted a request for a patent provisional.
In the new solar cell, a hexagonal scaffold (gray) is used to partition perovskite (black) into microcells to provide mechanical and chemical stability. Dauskardt Lab/Stanford University
In Dauskardt’s study Dauskardt’s test, the cells had 15% efficiency, which is superior to the previous test in 2009, which converted just 4 percent of light into electricity. Silicon panel efficiency rates are around 25 %, and perovskites have reached more than 20% in the laboratory. Researchers have calculated the theoretical efficiency potential of photovoltaic perovskites to be about thirty percent.
Dauskardt believes his team could be able to improve the scaffold that was initially built using inexpensive, readily accessible materials, to improve the effectiveness of the cell.
“We were so amazed that we were able to make one as quickly as we did. Now, the question is: are there other scaffolds we could use? What can we do to capture the light that falls onto the wall of the scaffold?” says Dauskardt. He and his colleagues plan to experiment with light-particle-scattering materials.
With the potential for low-cost production, relatively fast commercialization (Dauskardt estimates in the next three or five years), and numerous applications, the perovskite solar cell could be the next solar panel of the 20th century and beyond.
When that fly is flying around your ears, Be at ease knowing that nature, regardless of its form, can be a source of inspiration.