Scientists invent a bifacial solar cell using the metamaterial perovskite

For a long time, perovskite has been honored as the leading supermaterial for the new generation of electrical devices .

The light-facing surface of a solar cell converts sunlight into electrical energy, so how does the dark side receive light to create electricity now? The answer is simple: reflection.

Dihedral solar cells will save space and increase solar power output - (Photo: iStock/Getty Images).

Developed by the U.S. Department of Energy's National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), dihedral solar panels can help increase clean energy output while saving installation space.

' This perovskite-based solar cell can operate effectively on both sides ,' said Kai Zhu, a scientist at the Center for Chemistry and Nanoscience at NREL, who also led the groundbreaking research. breakthrough, told the press. Currently, solar battery technology (using silicon as a semiconductor) achieves an efficiency of about 26%.

Particularly on the front side of perovskite solar panels , the efficiency has reached the threshold of 23%. The battery side uses reflected light to generate electricity which can achieve 91-93% of the efficiency of the front side. Thereby, the average performance of this dual-sided system increases by about 20% compared to its predecessors.

In recent years, perovskite has become a leading material in advances surrounding solar cells. It continuously creates breakthroughs in performance, while paving the way for next-generation technology.

In July, a group of scientists from the University of Sydney and the Australian Science Accelerator announced that solar cells made from perovskite can self-heal, helping to improve systems that are constantly exposed to radiation. universe attack.

Australian research team's self-healing battery panels can improve devices operating outside Earth - (Photo: University of Sydney).

Under laboratory conditions, solar cells made from silicon and perovskite have achieved efficiencies of up to 30%, and in theory the number will far exceed the efficiency of pure silicon photovoltaic cells. In May, a Korean startup announced a product made from a combination of perovskite and silicon, claiming 50-75% higher efficiency than conventional solar cells.

Return to new innovations in the photovoltaic industry. The researchers expect that the cost of manufacturing bifacial solar cells will be higher, but their high efficiency will gradually make bifacial perovskite solar cells economically viable.

The new research has been published in the journal Joule.