SANTA CRUZ DE TENERIFE, June 8. (EUROPA PRESS) –
The research group of the Laboratory of Photovoltaic Cells of the Technological and Renewable Energy Institute (ITER), an entity dependent on the Cabildo de Tenerife, has developed a new low-temperature encapsulation method that improves the stability of photovoltaic devices based on structures of perovskite.
The results of this research, developed jointly by ITER and the Departments of Industrial Engineering and Specific Didactics of the University of La Laguna (ULL), have been recently published by the prestigious scientific journal ‘Applied Sciences’.
Until now, the photovoltaic market has been dominated by silicon, the compound on which most solar panels are currently based, but in recent years the possibilities offered by perovskite, a more efficient material, are being investigated very actively. affordable and less expensive.
The Island Councilor for Innovation, Enrique Arriaga, explains in a note that “researchers have improved the efficiency and stability of perovskite, key to ensuring the useful life and durability of this type of technology and replacing silicon in solar panels” .
Arriaga details that now “research is focused on the degradation mechanisms of perovskite cells, mainly exposure to moisture, oxygen, heat, ultraviolet light and reverse polarization and on how to make this material less vulnerable and so its properties are more stable and perform better”.
Along these lines, he adds that “achieving stable devices is key to ensuring the useful life and durability of this type of technology.”
To date, he points out, “several lines of research have been addressed in this regard, such as the introduction of variations in the composition of the perovskite structure, the inclusion of new layers, such as hydrophobic films, the substitution of the metallic electrode for carbon or a transparent conductive oxide to avoid problems with the carrier layer to isolate and protect the device from environmental agents.”
MACLAB-PV EUROPEAN PROJECT
This new line of research, as well as the cooperation established with the ULL and the publication of this scientific article, called ‘Characterization of a New Low Temperature Encapsulation Method with Ethylene-Vinyl Acetate under UV Irradiation for Perovskite Solar Cells’, have been promoted by the European project MACLAB-PV ‘Improvement of R&D&i capacities and infrastructures in the renewable energy and energy efficiency sector of the Canary Islands and Senegal’, co-financed by the INTERREG MAC 2014-2020 Programme, which aims to promote the excellence and applicability of scientific and technological activity in the renewable energy sector and energy efficiency in the Canary Islands and Senegal.
In this work, the performance of a new low-temperature encapsulation method based on ethylene-vinyl acetate (EVA) has been analyzed, designed to protect these photovoltaic devices from ultraviolet radiation in ambient conditions.
Thus, obtaining stable perovskite sheets after exposure to solar radiation for 350 hours, thanks to the protection against UV radiation provided by the encapsulation.
