Perovskite the wonder material

This mineral was discovered in 1839 by the German Gustav Rose who named it perovskite after the Russian mineralogist Lev Alekseyevich von Perovski.

Many years later a group of scientists formed by Nam-Gyu Park, Mercouri Kanatzidis and Tsutomu Miyasaka discovered the uses of perovskite in the field of photovoltaics for the first time. 

This mineral can be found in the mountains all over the world and its extraction is 100% clean. It is also a mineral that is very simple to create synthetically as abundant materials are used to create it.

Perovskite uses in PV

Perovskite is currently used in photovoltaic panels, either in the form of solar cells or in thin protective coatings.

As far as solar cells are concerned, the classic ones only reached an efficiency of 17 to 18% and it took 50 years to reach this point, but with perovskite cells a record efficiency of 25.5% has been reached in just 10 years.

As for the thin films, it is believed that they will be used in a combination of perovskite and silicon that could reach an efficiency of 29.15%, which is impressive in such a short time.

Advantages and disadvantages

Advantages:

• Easy production as materials for their creation are plentiful.
• Considerable improvement in the efficiency of the devices
• Excellent physical properties
• Simple to understand technology

Disadvantages

• Sensitivity to external agents such as oxygen or water vapor.
• Some of its compounds are toxic.

It is worth noting that these disadvantages are not very difficult to solve, but if they are solved soon and efficiency continues to increase, they will soon be commercialized on a large scale.

Uses out of the PV

According to studies carried out with this material by American universities, perovskite has the capacity to transmit waves a thousand times faster than other materials. The only problem is that it requires a high power laser and a very high cost, so we will have to wait a while to see this material in this field.

Conclusion 

This material is a breakthrough that will allow for less pollution from photovoltaic devices and will greatly improve the energy obtained from clean energy. In time, many more uses for this rare material will surely be discovered and until then we have years of study ahead of us.

For more information on renewable energies, photovoltaic technologies and the solutions we can offer your company, check out our Enectiva website.