Perovskite single-crystals for 30% concentrator photovoltaics

通过光化学捕获绿色和可再生能源，如太阳能，在减缓气候变化方面发挥着重要作用。传统的（或平板）光伏电池目前主导着太阳能市场，即使其他类型的聚光光伏电池（CPV）提供更高的功率转换效率，由于集中效应。商业化CPV的关键问题是其中使用的三/四结III-V太阳能电池的高成本。此外，多结电池被设计为在理想的1个太阳条件下在每个子电池内产生匹配的电流。然而，发生在非1个太阳中的漫射光（例如，加拿大大部分地区）或污染条件（例如，城市）具有光谱变化，导致各个电池之间的显著电流失配和功率输出的急剧下降。该项目旨在通过开发基于钙钛矿单晶的单结CPV来改造CPV技术。现在，钙钛矿单晶的生长成本可以低到1美元/立方厘米，部分原因是我们对钙钛矿结晶的研究比传统CPV中使用的III-V晶体便宜5个数量级。尽管在“理想”条件下输出较低，但单结电池对天气波动的独立性最终导致更高的累积功率输出。

Capturing green and renewable energy, such as solar energy by photovoltaics, plays a significant role in mitigating climate change. Conventional (or flat-plate) photovoltaics currently dominate the solar market, even though the other type of - concentration photovoltaics (CPVs) offer higher power conversion efficiencies due to concentration effect. The key issue with the commercialized CPVs is the high cost of the triple/quadruple junction III-V solar cells used in them. In addition, multi-junction cells are designed to produce matching electrical currents within each subcell at an ideal 1 sun condition. However, diffuse light, which occurs in non-1-sun (e.g., most of Canada) or polluted conditions (e.g., cities), has spectral variations leading to significant current mismatches between individual cells and a sharp decrease in power output. This project aims to transform the CPV technology by developing single-junction CPVs based on perovskite single crystals. Perovskite single crystals can now be grown as cheap as ~$1/cm3 - in part due to our works on perovskite crystallization5 - orders of magnitude cheaper than III-V crystals used in conventional CPVs. Despite having a lower output in 'ideal' conditions, single-junction cells' independence from weather fluctuations eventually leads to higher accumulated power output.