
Congcong Wu, associate research professor at Penn State, works with materials that can be inserted into next generation solar cells to improve their efficiency. Perovskite solar cells are an area of intense research due to their potential to offer a more efficient and less expensive alternative to traditional silicon-based solar technology. IMAGE: DAVID KUBAREK
Next-generation solar cells that mimic photosynthesis with biological material may give new meaning to the term “green technology.” Adding the protein bacteriorhodopsin (bR) to perovskite solar cells boosted the efficiency of the devices in a series of laboratory tests, according to an international team of researchers.
“These findings open the door for the development of a cheaper, more environmentally friendly bioperovskite solar cell technology,” said Shashank Priya, associate vice president for research and professor of materials science at Penn State. “In the future, we may essentially replace some expensive chemicals inside solar cells with relatively cheaper natural materials.”
Perovskite solar cells, named for their unique crystal structures that excel at absorbing visible light, are an area of intense research because they offer a more efficient and less expensive alternative to traditional silicon-based solar technology.
The most efficient perovskite solar cells can convert 22 to 23 percent of sunlight to electricity. The researchers found that adding the bR protein to perovskite solar cells improved the devices’ efficiency from 14.5 to 17 percent. They reported their findings in the American Chemical Society journal ACS Applied Materials and Interfaces.
The research represents the first time scientists have shown that biological materials added to perovskite solar cells can provide a high efficiency. Future research could result in even more efficient bioperovskite materials, the researchers said.
“Previous studies have achieved 8 or 9 percent efficiency by mixing certain proteins inside solar cell structures,” said Priya, a co-lead author of the study. “But nothing has come close to 17 percent. These findings are very significant.”
Commercial solar arrays consist of hundreds or thousands of individual solar cells, so even small improvements in efficiency can lead to real savings, according to the researchers.
Mimicking nature
Drawing on nature, the researchers sought to further improve the performance of perovskite solar cells through Förster Resonance Energy Transfer (FRET), a mechanism for energy transfer between a pair of photosensitive molecules.
“The FRET mechanism has been around for a long time,” said Renugopalakrishnan Venkatesan, professor at Northeastern University and Boston Children’s Hospital, Harvard University, and co-lead author on the study. “It seems to be the basis of photosynthesis and can be found in technologies like the wireless transfer of energy, and even in the animal world as a mechanism for communication. We are using this mechanism to try to create a world of bio-inspired systems that have the potential to surpass either inorganic or organic molecules.”
The bR proteins and perovskite materials have similar electrical properties, or band gaps. By aligning these gaps, the scientists hypothesized they could achieve a better performance in perovskite solar cells through the FRET mechanism.
“Solar cells work by absorbing light energy, or photon molecules and creating electron-hole pairs,” said Subhabrata Das, who participated in the research while a doctoral student at Columbia University. “By sending the electrons and holes in opposite directions, solar cells generate an electrical current that’s turned into electricity.”
However, a certain percent of electron-hole pairs recombine, reducing the amount of current produced. Mixing the bR protein into perovskite solar cells helped electron-hole pairs better move through the devices, reducing recombination losses and boosting efficiency, the scientists said.
The findings could potentially have larger consequences, leading to the design of other hybrid devices in which artificial and biological materials work together, according to the researchers.
Bernardo Barbiellini, professor at the University of Lappeenranta, Finland, also served as co-lead author of the study.
Also contributing from Penn State were Congcong Wu, associate research professor, and Yuchen Hou, graduate student in material science and engineering. Other researchers on the study were Zhaoning Song, University of Toledo; Rainer Koch, the University of Oldenburg, Germany; and Ponisseril Somasundaran, Columbia University.
Learn more: Biological material boosts solar cell performance
The Latest on: Perovskite solar cells
[google_news title=”” keyword=”perovskite solar cells” num_posts=”10″ blurb_length=”0″ show_thumb=”left”]
via Google News
The Latest on: Perovskite solar cells
- New Microscope Uncovers Exciting Insights Into Promising Solar Cell Materialon January 4, 2023 at 12:35 pm
A new characterization tool was developed by a team of scientists, allowing them to gain unique insight into a possible alternative material for solar cells. They developed a microscope that uses ...
- Interfacial engineering for improved stability of flexible perovskite solar cellson January 3, 2023 at 8:39 am
Flexible perovskite solar cells with low weight, high flexibility, and conformability have attracted attention for portable electronic products. The interface is crucial in perovskite solar cells for ...
- Self-repairing healing solar cells recovering in the dark of therecover at nighton January 3, 2023 at 1:55 am
Perovskite solar cells degrade when exposed to sunlight, which results in decreasing performance over time. A new research project will examine how ...
- Perovskite Solar Cell Module Market [New Report] Size 2023, Share, Growth with Recent Trends, Development, Revenue, Demand and Forecast to 2029on January 2, 2023 at 8:37 pm
The Perovskite Solar Cell Module Market analysis report helps in growing sales with new thinking, new skills, and innovative programs and tools. With the study of competitor analysis, Perovskite Solar ...
- Techniques to build thermally co-evaporated mini perovskite solar panelson January 2, 2023 at 5:59 am
Scientists from Singapore's Energy Research Institute at Nanyang Technological University have investigated how (TE) could be used to fabricate mini perovskite ...
- Korea University Shows How To Fabricate High-efficiency Perovskite Solar Cellson December 28, 2022 at 5:26 pm
Hong’s group at the Department of Civil, Environmental, and Architectural Engineering in the College of Engineering successfully developed a high-performance perovskite solar cell* exhibiting an effic ...
- Groundbreaking study reveals how to make perovskite solar cells more practical than everon December 27, 2022 at 8:00 am
A new study attempts to overcome the limitations of metal-halide perovskite solar cells so that we could develop have and cheaper solar panels.
- Highly Durable Perovskite Solar Cellson December 27, 2022 at 6:08 am
Researchers at University of California-Los Angeles (UCLA) have developed a way to fabricate tandem solar cells at low cost. Solar energy is considered to ...
- Improving the operational stability of perovskite solar cellson December 26, 2022 at 3:59 pm
Scientists have found a way to improve the operational stability of perovskite solar cells, a crucial step towards their commercialization. Hybrid perovskites are materials made from metal halide ...
- Scientists advance novel perovskite solar cell processon December 26, 2022 at 6:59 am
A new approach to manufacturing perovskite solar cells addressed previous problems and yielded devices with high efficiency and excellent stability, researchers at the National Renewable Energy ...
via Bing News