I-Corps: Rapid Photonic Treatment for High-Speed Printing of Flexible Perovskite Solar Cells

这个i-Corps项目的更广泛的影响和商业潜力是为将光伏集成到一系列新的外形因素中提供一条途径。该项目将首先探索将高性能、轻质柔性太阳能电池板集成到货运卡车拖车、遮阳布和军用帐篷上的商业潜力。当货运卡车拖车的大外表面覆盖着高效太阳能电池板时，这项技术可以显着提高柴油的整体效率。将柔性太阳能电池板改装到遮阳织物上，如雨篷、遮阳篷和停车场端口，可能会允许本地的、可能脱离电网的电源。这种柔性太阳能电池板还有可能帮助军方应对偏远地区作战所需的电力。所有这些应用都依赖于新的外形因素，这是该项目的核心技术。该i-Corps项目基于核心技术，克服了钙钛矿型太阳能电池的主要障碍，包括寿命短、工艺步骤长，以及在柔性基板上大面积制造导致效率大幅下降。常用的退火法需要在高温下长时间加热才能获得所需的材料性能。因此，它们通常与高速打印不兼容。这里开发的技术实现了对靶层的快速特定于层的光子处理，而不会损坏下面的柔性衬底和钙钛矿材料。这项创新技术通过高速印刷实现了耐用和完全灵活的钙钛矿型太阳能电池的大规模制造。

The broader impact and commercial potential of this I-Corps project is to provide a path for integrating photovoltaics into a wide range of new form factors. The project will first explore the commercial potential of integrating high-performance, light-weight flexible solar panels onto freight truck trailers, shading fabrics, and military tents. When the large exterior surfaces of a freight truck trailer are covered by high-efficiency solar panels the technology can significantly improve overall diesel fuel efficiencies. Retrofitting flexible solar panels onto shading fabrics, such as canopies, awnings, and car parking ports can potentially allow for local, potentially off-grid, power sources. The flexible solar panels will also potentially help the military cope with their power needs for operations occur in remote locations. All these applications rely on the new form factors the core technology in this project enables.This I-Corps project is based on core technology that overcomes major obstacles in perovskite solar cells, including their short lifetime, lengthy processing steps, and substantial efficiency drops from large-area fabrication on flexible substrates. Commonly used annealing approaches require prolonged heating at high temperatures to attain desired material properties. Therefore, they are not typically compatible with high-speed printing. The technology developed here accomplishes a rapid layer-specific photonic treatment for the target layer without damaging the underlying flexible substrate and perovskite materials. This innovative technology enables large-scale manufacturing of durable and fully-flexible perovskite solar cells through high-speed printing.