Development of Stable Electrodes for Perovskite Solar Cells
- $936k Funded by ARENA
- $2.5m Total project cost
Summary
In this Development of Stable Electrodes for Perovskite Solar Cells project, ANU will be working with Monash University to develop new approaches for perovskite electrodes. A variety of integrated electrode structures will be developed and tested for efficiency and stability, and the cost of the developed structures will be assessed. The result is expected to be perovskite solar cells with substantially improved stability that have the potential for commercialisation.
Key results
- The project investigated a range of material configurations, and two types of gold-free electrodes were developed into full cells, one based on a metal layer stack, and one based on carbon. Both show promising efficiency and stability.
- The metal layer stack cells achieved an efficiency of 19 per cent, which was only 3 per cent less than the efficiency recorded using gold at far higher cost.
- The project was successful in helping to achieve high efficiency and improved stability using commercially relevant contact materials, which is essential for the commercialisation of the technology.
- The project findings have the potential to significantly reduce the cost of energy produced by perovskite solar cells.
Read reports
Final Report: Development of Stable Electrodes for Perovskite Solar Cells Project Results and Lessons Learnt
This is the Final Public Dissemination report for the Australian National University’s Development of Stable Electrodes for Perovskite Solar Cells project.
Report:Development of Stable Electrodes for Perovskite Solar Cells Project Results and Lessons Learnt
This report discusses the project results and lessons learnt to date for the ANU Project, Development of Stable Electrodes for Perovskite Solar Cells.
Project innovation
The project by ANU recognises that perovskites are an exciting new class of materials for solar cells because they are low cost and can be used to make high efficiency solar cells. A limitation of the cells is that so far the highest efficiency solar cells have used high cost electrodes with limited stability. This project will develop novel multi-layer integrated contacts that can achieve high efficiency, low cost, and improved stability.
Benefit
Perovskites are a broad class of materials that have shown high efficiency in solar cell applications. Key advantages are that they can be cheaply deposited at room temperature, they have high material quality, and they can be tuned to absorb light across the solar spectrum. This project will address one of the key limitations of cells, which are their electrodes. Development of improved electrodes is expected to substantially accelerate the commercialisation of this promising technology, leading to reduction in the cost of solar energy.
ARENAWIRE Blogs
Stable, cheap, efficient perovskite cells – can the ANU find the holy grail of solar?
Perovskites could be genuine game-changers for the solar industry – photovoltaic (PV) materials that are cheap, easy to manufacture, highly customisable and very efficient. However, current perovskite solar cells aren’t particularly stable and can’t be mass-produced on existing silicon cell production lines.
ANU breakthrough smashes solar record
Researchers at the Australian National University have beaten their previous record to develop the world’s most efficient perovskite solar cell.
