Scientists set new efficiency target for monolithic perovskite-silicon tandem solar cell

Researchers at the University of Sydney have achieved 30% efficiency rating with a monolithic perovskite-silicon tandem solar cell and now have their sights set on a new target.

August 21, 2024 Ev Foley

Image: The University of Sydney

A team of University of Sydney researchers, led by the John Hooke Chair of Nanoscience Professor Anita Ho-Baillie, is intent on pushing the energy conversion efficiency for a perovskite-silicon tandem solar cell to 40% after reaching the 30% mark.

The Sydney researchers achieved the milestone last month, becoming the first Australian team to join an elite group of just eight around the world to have reached the target.

Ho-Baillie said the success, which has been independently validated by the United States-headquartered National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), has motivated them to target the 40% threshold.

“It’s given us credibility and confidence that we are leading in Australia and there are thousands of teams doing work on this, so yes, it’s good to say Australia is still leading the world in solar,” Ho Baillie told pv magazine.

The path to 40% begins with optimisation of the perovskite cell for a higher voltage.

“It’s hard to say how long this will take, but we’re going at it as hard as we can. We are also working on triple-junction but that’s for a separate project,” Ho-Baillie said.

The quest for 40% efficiency is funded under the $8.65 million (USD 5.7 million) Commercialising Si Perovskite Tandem in Australia project, of which $2.78 million is an Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) grant.

ARENA’s overarching aim is to achieve ultra-low cost solar by funding developments to improve solar cell efficiency to 30% and reduce the total cost of construction of utility scale solar farms to 30 cents per watt, or below $15 per MWh, by 2030.

It also supports improvement in Si-perovskite tandem multi-cell module durability in order to support progression towards 30-year solar module asset life.

Sydney-headquartered solar technology company SunDrive is partnered on the Sydney University project to evaluate the commercialisation potential of Si-perovskite tandem cells.

Ho-Baillie has said the theoretical limit of perovskite-silicon tandem is 40% and 50% for triple junction, and believes cell design is the future of solar technology dependent on durability.

“We need to develop technologies of encapsulating and packaging the tandem cells to larger solar panels. These panels, not just the cells themselves, also have to be durable and highly efficient,” she said.

University of Sydney researchers Professor Anita Ho-Baillie, Professor David McKenzie, Dr Jianghui Zheng and Dr Arafat Mahmud.
*Image: The University of Sydney*

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