Oxford University Innovation Could Do Away With Silicon For Solar Panels?

The Department Physics at the University of Oxford has developed a flexible multi-junction perovskite solar cell using an ultra-thin material, that’s almost 150 times thinner than a silicon wafer, with over 27% energy efficiency. It claims this ‘revolutionary’ approach for the 1st time matches the performance of conventional, single-layer silicon-based solar panels whose energy efficiency today stands at around 22%.   

“During just five years experimenting with our stacking or multi-junction approach we have raised power conversion efficiency from around 6% to over 27%, close to the limits of what single-layer photovoltaics can achieve today,” said Post Doctoral Fellow at Oxford University Physics, Dr Shuaifeng Hu. “We believe that, over time, this approach could enable the photovoltaic devices to achieve far greater efficiencies, exceeding 45%.” 

Certified by the National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST) of Japan, this cell uses a multi-junction approach, stacking multiple light-absorbing layers into a single solar cell. This harnesses a wider range of the light spectrum, allowing more power to be generated from the same amount of sunlight.   

It can be applied to any surface including rucksacks, cars and mobile phones, according to the researchers, doing away with the need to use silicon-based solar panels. They argue that this will contribute to significantly lowering the cost of solar to make it the most sustainable form of renewable energy. 

Wang added, “We can envisage perovskite coatings being applied to broader types of surface to generate cheap solar power, such as the roof of cars and buildings and even the backs of mobile phones. If more solar energy can be generated in this way, we can foresee less need in the longer term to use silicon panels or build more and more solar farms.”