<
https://reneweconomy.com.au/australian-researchers-claim-world-record-pv-efficiency-for-kesterite-solar-cell/>
"Researchers from the University of New South Wales (UNSW) say they have set a
new world record efficiency for a kesterite solar cell, a type of solar cell
that has the potential to deliver long-term improvements in solar photovoltaic
technology.
As part of a larger worldwide effort to find materials to pair with traditional
silicon cells to form a tandem solar cell capable of boosting efficiency – as
compared to a single junction solar cell – the engineers from the UNSW’s School
of Photovoltaic and Renewable Energy Engineering achieved a best-ever
efficiency of 13.2 per cent for high bandgap kesterite solar cells, which had
been enhanced with hydrogen.
Kesterite is a naturally occurring mineral, but one that can also be created
artificially at low cost by combining copper, zinc, tin, and sulphur – all
highly abundant, non-toxic materials. Matching the initials of its component
parts, kesterite’s synthesised form I sknown as CZTS.
Relying on abundant materials means that artificial kesterite, or CZTS, makes
the material a hugely attractive alternative to other, rarer materials, which
are both expensive and whose extraction is environmentally damaging.
However, despite its upsides, the efficiency of kesterite has been hindered by
a number of hard to avoid defects which are created during the process to
synthesise CZTS.
The UNSW team, led by Scientia Professor Xiaojing Hao, believe they have begun
to solve this problem by annealing, also known as heat-treating, the CZTS solar
cell device in a hydrogen-containing atmosphere.
“The big picture here is that we ultimately want to make electricity cheaper
and greener to generate,” said Professor Hao.
“Silicon modules have almost reached the limit of their theoretical efficiency,
so what we are trying to do is answer the question coming from the PV industry
as to what the next generation of cells will be made of.
“And as well as that, how can we make solar panels less expensive to
manufacture, and how can we get more electricity per area so the panels can be
particularly beneficial for area-limited PV applications?”"
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
