Grantham Scholar Sophie Tucker’s project researches perovskite solar cells and their use in renewable energy generation.
Solar energy is one of the most important avenues for renewable energy generation, allowing us to harvest energy in the form of photons from the sun and convert this into electricity. In order to ensure that the potential of solar in meeting global energy needs is realised, we must focus our efforts on developing high efficiency and low cost photovoltaics.
Perovskite solar cells (PSCs) are a novel photovoltaic (PV) technology that have already seen efficiencies rivalling that of the current market technology, crystalline Silicon. Tandem solar cells contain two layers of absorbing material, allowing for a larger proportion of the solar spectrum to be harvested. This greatly increases the maximum possible efficiency obtainable from PV modules, and PSCs are poised to become the leading technology in these devices due to their chemical tunability and excellent optoelectronic properties. However, there are barriers in the path to the commercialisation of these devices, particularly in the stability of solar modules containing these materials.
This project focuses on 2-dimensional perovskites for use in tandem solar cells, which have improved operational stability but are currently an understudied area of development. We aim to formulate an understanding of the degradation pathways and voltage losses in these devices, and use this understanding to fabricate high efficiency tandem solar cells with improved stability.