{"id":55094,"date":"2019-05-14T04:01:39","date_gmt":"2019-05-14T08:01:39","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/utnews.utoledo.edu\/?p=55094"},"modified":"2019-05-14T10:48:18","modified_gmt":"2019-05-14T14:48:18","slug":"breakthrough-in-new-material-to-harness-solar-power-could-transform-energy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.utoledo.edu\/index.php\/05_14_2019\/breakthrough-in-new-material-to-harness-solar-power-could-transform-energy","title":{"rendered":"Breakthrough in new material to harness solar power could transform energy"},"content":{"rendered":"

The most affordable, efficient way to harness the cleanest, most abundant renewable energy source in the world is one step closer to reality.<\/p>\n

The University of Toledo physicist pushing the performance of solar cells to levels never before reached made a significant breakthrough in the chemical formula and process to make the new material.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Dr. Zhaoning Song holds a perovskite solar cell minimodule he developed with Dr. Yanfa Yan. The higher-efficiency, lower-cost solar cell technology could revolutionize energy generation around the globe.<\/p><\/div>Working in collaboration with the U.S. Department of Energy\u2019s National Renewable Energy Lab, Dr. Yanfa Yan, UToledo professor of physics, envisions the ultra-high efficiency material called a tandem perovskite solar cell will be ready to debut in full-sized solar panels in the consumer market in the near future.<\/p>\n

Perovskites, compound materials with a special crystal structure formed through chemistry, would replace silicon, which \u2014 for now \u2014 remains the solar-cell material of choice for converting the sun\u2019s light into electrical energy.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are producing higher-efficiency, lower-cost solar cells that show great promise to help solve the world energy crisis,\u201d Yan said. \u201cThe meaningful work will help protect our planet for our children and future generations. We have a problem consuming most of the fossil energies right now, and our collaborative team is focused on refining our innovative way to clean up the mess.\u201d<\/p>\n

The new research paper, which is published in the journal Science<\/a>, outlines how the photovoltaics team is fine-tuning a mix of lead and tin to advance the technology closer to its maximum efficiency. Efforts have currently brought the efficiency of the new solar cell to about 23 percent. In comparison, silicon solar panels on the market today have around an 18 percent efficiency rating.<\/p>\n

Scientists used a chemical compound called guanidinium thiocyanate to dramatically improve the structural and optoelectronic properties of the lead-tin mixed perovskite films. <\/p>\n

\u201cScience is the top academic journal in the world, alongside Nature, which published other research by Dr. Yan only five months ago after he discovered a single material that produces white light, which could boost the efficiency and appeal of LED bulbs,\u201d Dr. Sanjay Khare, professor and chair of the UToledo Department of Physics and Astronomy, said. \u201cHis significant sustainability work at The University of Toledo can help power the world using clean energy.\u201d<\/p>\n

About five years ago Yan\u2019s team at UToledo identified the ideal properties of perovskites, and he has since focused his 20 years of experience on producing an all-perovskite tandem solar cell that brings together two different solar cells to increase the total electrical power generated by using two different parts of the sun\u2019s spectrum.<\/p>\n

Last month the U.S. Department of Energy awarded Yan a $1.1 million grant to continue his research in collaboration with the National Renewable Energy Lab.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is the material we\u2019ve been waiting for for a long time,\u201d Yan said. \u201cThe solar industry is watching and waiting. Some have already started investing in this technology.\u201d<\/p>\n

Yan is an expert in theory of defect physics and electronic properties in semiconductors, materials synthesis and thin-film solar-cell fabrication.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur UToledo research is ongoing to make cheaper and more efficient solar cells that could rival and even outperform the prevailing silicon photovoltaic technology,\u201d said Dr. Zhaoning Song, research assistant professor in the UToledo Department of Physics and Astronomy, and co-author on the study. \u201cOur tandem solar cells with two layers of perovskites deliver high-power conversion efficiency and have the potential to bring down production costs of solar panels, which is an important advance in photovoltaics.”<\/p>\n

While Yan\u2019s team has improved the quality of the materials and the process to manufacture them at a low cost, more progress needs to be made. <\/p>\n

\u201cThe material cost is low and the fabrication cost is low, but the lifetime of the material is still an unknown,\u201d Song said. \u201cWe need to continue to increase efficiency and stability.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAlso, lead is considered a toxic substance,\u201d Yan said. \u201cI am determined to work with the solar industry to ensure solar panels made of this material can be recycled so they don\u2019t cause harm to the environment.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Dr. Yanfa Yan and Dr. Zhaoning Song have developed a higher-efficiency, lower-cost solar cell technology that could revolutionize energy generation around the globe.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":812,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[39,1,3,7],"tags":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.utoledo.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/55094"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.utoledo.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.utoledo.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.utoledo.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/812"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.utoledo.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=55094"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/news.utoledo.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/55094\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":55150,"href":"https:\/\/news.utoledo.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/55094\/revisions\/55150"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.utoledo.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=55094"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.utoledo.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=55094"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.utoledo.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=55094"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}