Researchers at Tohoku University have developed an innovative method for fabricating semitransparent and flexible solar cells with atomically thin 2D materials. The new technology improves power conversion efficiency of up to 0.7% – this is the highest value for solar cells made from transparent 2D sheet materials.
Transparent or semi-transparent solar cells with excellent mechanical flexibility have attracted much attention as next-generation smart solar cells. They can be used in various applications such as on the surfaces of windows, front display panels of personal computers and cell phones, and human skin. But issues remain with regards to improving their power conversion efficiency, optical transparency, flexibility, stability and scalability.
Led by Associate Professor T. Kato, the team showed easy and scalable fabrication of semitransparent and flexible solar cells using transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs) – an atomically thin 2D material. Using a Schottky-type configuration, power conversion efficiency can be increased up to 0.7%, which is the highest value reported with few-layered TMDs. Clear power generation was also observed for a device fabricated on a large transparent and flexible substrate.
“Since our device structure, Schottky-type solar cell, is very simple, the TMDs-based Schottky-type solar cell possesses good properties for scalability, which is one of the most important elements for use in practical applications.” says Kato.
“The transparent and semi-transparent solar cell can be used in a variety of ways. This new type of solar cell is likely to have impact on the technologies we use in daily life in the near future.”
Details of this study were published online on September 20 in Scientific Reports.
Learn more: Semitransparent and Flexible – Solar Cells made from atomically thin sheet
The Latest on: Atomically thin 2D solar cells
[google_news title=”” keyword=”Atomically thin 2D solar cells” num_posts=”10″ blurb_length=”0″ show_thumb=”left”]- Powering drones with ultra-thin, flexible perovskite PV cellson May 14, 2024 at 7:14 am
An Austrian research team has demonstrated that lightweight, flexible and ultra-thin perovskite solar technology can power palm-sized autonomous drones.
- Powering drones with ultra-thin, flexible perovskite PV cellson May 8, 2024 at 5:00 pm
A team from Johannes Kepler University Linz has developed lead halide perovskite solar cells that measure less ... “broader benefits of using a quasi-2D perovskite active layer” and that ...
- Researchers create 2D all-organic perovskites and demonstrate potential use in 2D electronicson May 8, 2024 at 5:00 pm
Perovskites are named after their structural resemblance to the mineral calcium titanate perovskite, and are well known for their fascinating properties that can be applied in wide-ranging fields such ...
- Researchers create 2D all-organic perovskites, demonstrate potential use in 2D electronicson May 6, 2024 at 6:49 am
Perovskites are among the most researched topics in materials science. Recently, a research team from The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU) has solved an age-old challenge to synthesize ...
- How Do Solar Panels Work?on April 26, 2024 at 5:00 pm
But there are also solar dye cells, thin film solar cells, and solar panels made of a different type of crystal called perovskites. These approaches use semiconducting materials to produce ...
- Ultra-thin, flexible solar cells demonstrate their promise in a commercial quadcopter droneon April 24, 2024 at 9:37 am
Ultra-thin and flexible solar cells made from ... JKU have now succeeded in developing ultra-lightweight quasi-2D perovskite solar cells with an unprecedented power output of up to 44 watts ...
- Ultra-thin solar cells for self-sufficient drones and sustainable aviationon April 22, 2024 at 4:59 pm
As a solution, the research team developed ultra-thin and flexible perovskite solar cells. The researchers said that their quasi-2D perovskite solar cells have a power output of up to 44 watts per ...
- New photovoltaic 2D material breaks quantum efficiency recordon April 22, 2024 at 4:59 pm
producing a material with an EQE of up to 190% – nearly double that of silicon solar cells. The team made the new compound by inserting copper atoms between atomically thin layers of germanium ...
- Solar-cell-packin' drone uses sunlight for on-the-spot rechargingon April 18, 2024 at 5:00 pm
They could do so via onboard ultra-thin solar cells, which have already been successfully tested on a small quadcopter. One of the reasons we don't see drones in wider use now is because most of ...
- Defect removal of 2D semiconductor crystalson April 18, 2024 at 5:00 pm
A study of oxygen molecules interacting with atomically thin layers ... including flexible devices and solar cells. Some of the most promising 2D materials are ‘transition metal dichalcogenides ...
via Google News and Bing News