Perovskite solar cells have made rapid progress over the past decade. When the first perovskite solar cell was invented in 2009, its efficiency was only 3.8%. By 2019, the latest perovskite cell efficiency had been refreshed to 25.2%, which is comparable to crystalline silicon solar cells. Moreover, its cost is low, and there is still a lot of room for improvement in its conversion efficiency.
However, perovskite solar cells also have significant defects, which is a major reason why they have not been mass-produced for so long. For a long time, some scientists believed that this was mainly because iodides could not fill any defects in the perovskite lattice, causing them to gradually expand during long-term use, thus affecting the final conversion efficiency.
However, a research team from the University of California, Santa Barbara, through cutting-edge calculations, discovered that iodides are not the real defect in perovskite solar cells. Rather, they are the molecular units previously thought to be indestructible, formed by the combination of calcium, titanium, and oxygen.
This represents a reversal in the research of some scientists on perovskite solar cells. After the results were announced, the research focus of some scientists will shift from how to fill the perovskite lattice with iodides to how to construct a more robust perovskite lattice.
Previously, many research teams have made numerous attempts and achieved some significant results in perovskite solar cells, involving material preparation and the addition of new photovoltaic materials. If scientists can solve this newly discovered problem, it will lead to a major breakthrough in perovskite solar cells.
