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					</table><p><a href="https://midsummer.se/en/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Midsummer</a>, a Swedish developer, in collaboration with researchers at the University of California, Los Angeles (<a href="https://www.ucla.edu/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">UCLA</a>), has developed a four-terminal perovskite-CIGS tandem solar cell that has demonstrated an efficiency of 24.9%.</p>
<p>Through a collaborative project with Yang of UCLA, Midsummer has showcased a four-terminal tandem solar cell that combines perovskite and CIGS technologies.</p>
<p>The ongoing research aims to create a two-terminal perovskite-CIGS cell, which would make this solar cell highly competitive and ideal for large-scale production.</p>
<p>This project demonstrates the possibility of constructing a tandem solar cell using Midsummer&#8217;s established production process and the Midsummer DUO machine.</p>
<p>The top cell of the tandem is a perovskite-based one that has been specifically optimized for seamless integration with Midsummer&#8217;s CIGS cells, which are utilized in the company&#8217;s range of commercial BIPV (Building Integrated Photovoltaics) products.</p>
<p>Yang said, “We are thrilled to have this opportunity to work with Midsummer and PMI. Our ultimate goal is to demonstrate two-terminal perovskite/CIGS tandem cells, suitable for mass production.”</p>
<p>The team said the newly developed solar cell has demonstrated impressive efficiency, which is achieved by combining a wide bandgap perovskite cell as the top layer and a CIGS cell as the bottom layer.</p>
<p>The DUO production system is designed to produce high-performance CIGS solar cells that can be made in dimensions of 156mm x 156mm on a flexible stainless-steel substrate.</p>
<p>“Integrating Midsummer’s production-proven CIGS processing with Yang’s Lab tailored perovskite shows a clear path toward expanding the reach of BIPV by improving efficiency and lowering costs,” said Leon Chiu, President of Pioneer Materials, Inc.</p>
<p>Sven Lindström, CEO of Midsummer, said perovskite-CIGS tandem cells have enormous potential for the future of solar energy, and Midsummer&#8217;s solar panel design is particularly well-suited for developing a commercial product for this type of solar panel.</p>
<p>One advantage of Midsummer&#8217;s design is that it includes a diode between each solar cell, which is an essential component for optimal efficiency in a tandem cell configuration. This feature is expected to give Midsummer&#8217;s design an edge in terms of commercial viability and potential for widespread use.</p>
<p>Recently, researchers at Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin <a href="https://www.mercomindia.com/researchers-perovskite-solar-cells-saves-input-energy" target="_blank" rel="noopener">found</a> that solar cells made of metal halide perovskites achieve high efficiencies and can be produced from liquid inks with little energy input.</p>
<p>In the same month, Italy-based renewable energy company Enel Green Power, researchers at the National Solar Energy Institute, and the French Alternative Energies and Atomic Energy Commission <a href="https://www.mercomindia.com/researchers-show-tandem-perovskite-solar-cell" target="_blank" rel="noopener">claimed</a> to have achieved a power conversion efficiency of 26.5% for a 2-terminal tandem perovskite solar cell.</p>


Swedish Firm Says Perovskite-CIGS Tandem Solar Cells Yield 24.9% Efficiency


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					</table><p>A team of material scientists at the <a href="https://samueli.ucla.edu/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">UCLA Samueli School of Engineering</a> in California designed a solar roof with semi-transparent solar cells for a miniature greenhouse prototype, producing sufficient energy from sunlight to grow plants or crops.</p>
<p>In the study published in the scientific journal <a href="https://www.nature.com/natsustain/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Nature Sustainability</a>, the experts incorporated a layer of naturally occurring chemical L-glutathione in the solar cells, which is generally sold as a dietary supplement.</p>
<p>They observed that the addition of the chemical extended the lifetime of solar cells and enhanced the efficiency while allowing sufficient transparency in the solar roof for the sunlight to reach the plants inside the miniature greenhouse which was the size of a dollhouse.</p>
<p>The scientists said that the focus of their work is <a href="https://mercomindia.com/agrivoltaics-solve-land-scarcity-problem-solar-installations/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">agrivoltaics</a>, which focuses on the simultaneous use of land for both solar power generation and agriculture.</p>
<p>Yepin Zhao, the lead author of the research, said, “We didn’t expect the organic solar cells to outperform a conventional glass-roof greenhouse. But we repeated the experiments multiple times with the same results and after further research and analysis, we discovered that plants don’t need as much sunlight to grow as we’d originally thought. In fact, too much sun exposure can do more harm than good, especially in climates such as California’s, where sunlight is more abundant.”</p>
<p>The scientists built the miniature to replace the glass panels in the greenhouse with solar panels. The solar cells developed by the UCLA team rely upon carbon-based materials, as opposed to the inorganic substances used in conventional devices.</p>
<p>Organic solar cells tend to degrade faster than their inorganic counterparts because sunlight can cause organic materials to oxidize and thus lose electrons.</p>
<p>The scientists discovered that the additional layer of L-glutathione prevented the other materials in the solar cell from oxidizing.</p>
<p>The solar roof achieved a power conversion efficiency of 13.5% and an average visible transmittance of 21.5%, with operational stability of 84.8% retention after being exposed to 1,008 hours of continuous illumination— as opposed to less than 20% without the added layer.</p>
<p>They observed the growth of common crops including wheat, mung beans, and broccoli in two separate experiments. One had a transparent glass roof with segments of inorganic solar cells, and the other had a roof made entirely from semi-transparent organic solar cells.</p>
<p>The crops in the greenhouse with the organic solar roof grew more than the crops in a regular greenhouse.</p>
<p>The scientists believe this is because the L-glutathione layer blocked ultraviolet rays, which can inhibit plant growth, and infrared rays, which can cause greenhouses to overheat and plants inside to require more water.</p>
<p>Experts from the U.S. National Renewable Energy Laboratory said in another <a href="https://mercomindia.com/more-space-between-solar-panel-rows-help-lower-module-temperatures/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">study</a> that distancing rows of solar panels apart could help maintain the module temperature, which usually increases when modules are exposed to sunlight for longer duration. They said that their research is particularly relevant to the growing field of agrivoltaics, wherein crops are placed adjacent to or below solar panels.</p>


Researchers Develop Roof with Organic Solar Cells for Greenhouse

<p>Materials scientists at the <a href="https://samueli.ucla.edu/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">UCLA</a> Samueli School of Engineering and researchers from five other varsities recently demonstrated a simple surface adjustment in the manufacturing of perovskite solar cells to overcome the degradation of cells due to prolonged exposure to sunlight.</p>
<p>Perovskites are a group of materials with the same atomic arrangement or crystal structure as the mineral calcium titanium oxide. This research focuses on metal halide perovskites, a subgroup of perovskites, owing to their promising application for energy-efficient, thinfilm solar cells.</p>
<p>The research was led by Yang Yang, a UCLA Samueli professor, and the research paper was co-authored by Shaun Tan and Tianyi Huang, UCLA Samueli Ph.D. graduates.</p>
<p>The research was supported by the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy.</p>
<p><strong>What degrades efficiency in Perovskite Solar Cells?</strong></p>
<p>The perovskite solar cells are most commonly subjected to a surface treatment to remove defects, wherein a layer of organic ions is deposited to treat the defection. This results in the creation of a more electron-rich surface which is a potential trap for energy-carrying electrons.</p>
<p>When the energy-carrying electrons are trapped, the orderly arrangement of atoms in the cells destabilizes — making perovskite solar cells less efficient over time. Ultimately, this makes the solar panels with perovskite unattractive for commercialization.</p>
<p><strong>The New Surface Treatment</strong></p>
<p>In order to resolve the long-term degradation of perovskite solar cells, scientists paired the positively charged ions with the negatively charged ions and discovered a new surface treatment process. The change enabled the surface to be more electron-neutral and stable while preserving the integrity of the defect-prevention surface treatments.</p>
<p>The team then tested the endurance of these cells in the lab under accelerated aging conditions and illumination designed to mimic sunlight.</p>
<p>During the experiment, these cells retained 87% of their original sunlight-to-electricity conversion performance for over 2,000 hours. However, the solar cells with commonly used surface treatment mechanism dropped 65% in their performance when they were tested under similar settings.</p>
<p>Shaun Tan, the research co-author, said,  “Our perovskite solar cells are among the most stable in efficiency reported to date. We’ve laid new foundational knowledge on which the community can further develop and refine our versatile technique to design even more stable perovskite solar cells.”</p>
<p>The manufacturing cost of solar cells based on perovskite technology is much lower than its silicon-based counterparts — making it the best suitable energy-efficient converter. The new surface treatment process aims to make perovskite solar cells more accessible by addressing the issue of solar cell degradation due to exposure to direct sunlight.</p>
<p>Recently, researchers at the King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) <a href="https://mercomindia.com/perovskites-pass-heat-test/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">developed</a> a new technology to help perovskite solar cells withstand prolonged exposure to high humidity and elevated temperatures.</p>
<p>Image credit: UCLA Samueli School Of Engineering</p>


Scientists Develop New Method to Address Degradation of Perovskite Solar Cells

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