RAJ KUMAR
Ranchi, Jan 12: A Central University of Jharkhand (CUJ) faculty member and his team constructed and simulated solar cells with the highest efficiency of 32.3 per cent to date.
Dr Basudev Pradhan is the professor. He is affiliated with the university’s department of energy engineering.
This research has already been published in the Materials Today Sustainability journal (https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S2589234722001336), and it has also been highlighted in the prestigious PV Magazine global edition (https://www.pv-magazine.com/2022/11/14/all-perovskite-two-terminal-tandem-solar-cell-tech-with-32-3-efficiency/).
When contacted Pradhan to know about the cell, he said that it is “all perovskite tandem solar cells (by stacking two solar cells)”.
When further asked to explain the technology, Pradhan said, “We have used two different perovskite materials one with a wide bandgap of 1.75 eV for top cells and another one with a 1.25 eV bandgap for bottom cells with a capacity of supplying open-circuit voltage of 2.047 V, and short-circuit current of 18.30 mA/cm2.”
Asked how useful it is going to be for the common people, Pradhan said, “The perovskite modules will definitely be cheaper as compared to the present mainstream crystalline silicon-based modules. Already few companies have started producing perovskite/silicon tandem modules aboard. We hope to see this technology change the whole solar PV market in India as well as all over the world in near future.”
“The soaring crisis of energy supply along with high prices of fuels is a major problem for every middle-class family in the country. As a solution to these problems, the abundance of solar energy in our country could be a single-shot remedy to all sorts of energy crises and energy insecurity. But the present silicon-based PV technology is still very expensive, it’s very difficult to afford by the grass route level people. On the other hand, perovskite-based solar cell technology is now a viable alternative with low cost and higher output efficiency,” Pradhan said.
Perovskite is a calcium titanium oxide mineral, with the chemical formula CaTiO3. The mineral was discovered in the Ural Mountains of Russia by Gustav Rose in 1839 and is named after Russian mineralogist Lev Perovski (1792–1856).
