Scientists at Jiangsu University of Science and Technology (JUST) in China have developed silicon-based solar cells that are thinner than office paper. It is a flexible material similar in properties to paper that converts light into electricity without sacrificing efficiency. It brings details web South China Morning Post.
Silicon-based solar cells are widely used in the transition from fossil fuel energy to more sustainable solar energy, accounting for approximately 95% of solar cells in the PV market. The best silicon cells can convert light into electricity with an energy efficiency of just over 27%. Their costs have been steadily falling over the past decades, making their large-scale deployment easier.
Striving for the thinnest articles possible
Solar cells made of crystalline silicon have a “sandwich” structure, and previous attempts to make them more flexible have yielded positive results. Last year, the results of an experiment carried out by scientists from the Shanghai Institute of Microsystems and Information Technology were published, who achieved a solar cell thickness of just 60 micrometerswhich is roughly the thickness of a human hair.
China’s Science and Technology Daily quoted Professor Li Yang of JUST on Monday as saying that crystalline silicon solar cells are the most advanced and widespread photovoltaic power generation technology, “but faces two major technological hurdles”.
One of the disadvantages is that energy conversion efficiency of large-area silicon cells remains limited to 26%. The second obstacle is thickness of cells — typically 150 to 180 micrometers — making them difficult to use in applications that require more flexible and lighter material, such as curved roofs, satellites and space stations. In spaces with curved surfaces, it is often necessary to implement significantly more expensive technologies.
Article thin 50 micrometers
JUST scientists have gone one step further by producing silicon cells just 50 micrometers thick, thinner than a sheet of paper. Unlike paper, silicon cells cannot be folded, but they can be bent without problems, which is useful, for example, when they are used on satellites and other space applications.
“We have developed crystalline silicon cells that they are only 50 micrometers thini.e. thinner than a sheet of paper, and which can be bent into a roll, and are much more efficient than conventional ones,” Li Yang said. The results of the scientific research were published on January 31 in the scientific journal Nature.
Thinning the silicon cells has even more advantages. In the production of such thin solar cells, less material is used, their weight and installation costs are reduced. However, it also has one rather fundamental disadvantage, as these solar cells lose their energy conversion efficiency over time.
Flexible solar cells
Loss of energy conversion efficiency (PCE) is the main reason why thinner silicon cells have not yet caught on. More than just reducing the thickness to 50 micrometers is needed to be able to use flexible solar cells. In previous trials, flexible silicon cells with a thickness of less than 150 micrometers achieved a PCE of up to 24.7%.
Because flexible silicon cells can be bent almost arbitrarily, they can be used in a wide variety of devices such as drones, airships, and even wearable smart devices. The research team is now focusing on developing portable, flexible solar cells that can be rolled into foil.
Innovations in photovoltaic technology that yield flexible solar cells thinner than paper are opening up new possibilities for harnessing solar energy. The breakthrough achieved by the team from Jiangsu University of Science and Technology not only reduces the cost and material intensity of production, but also expands the spectrum of applicationsfrom space missions to integrated solutions for modern architecture.
2024-02-18 18:45:59
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