Temperature has always been a major factor affecting commercial viability of various types of solar cells, as the optimal conversion efficiency of all types of solar cells typically lies within a specific temperature range. However, the ability to adapt to drastic temperature changes is a key factor in commercial implementation.

      Temperature has always been a major factor affecting the cost considerations of various types of solar cells. The best conversion efficiency of all types of solar cells is typically within a specific temperature range. However, in commercial practical environments, the ability to adapt to drastic temperature changes is a key factor. Commercial perovskite solar cells not only require high temperatures maintained by sunlight to operate continuously, but also face lattice strain effects caused by temperature changes in the use environment. Especially in harsh outdoor climates, they will quickly become fatigued and decline, causing the power generation effect to be less than the commercial operating costs.

        In order to address this issue and progress towards high-efficiency, low-cost commercial perovskite solar cells, Professor Antonio Abate’s team at Germany’s HZB, including doctoral student Guixiang Li, is working on the solution. Li says, “We optimized the device structure and process parameters, and based on previous research results, we can finally achieve decisive progress using b-poly(1,1-difluoroethylene) (b-pV2F)…“

      The HZB team, led by Professor Antonio Abate, Guixiang Li, and Meng Li from Henan University in China, has developed high-quality perovskite crystal films using a fluorinated polymer. This polymer reduces the energy required for the formation of the black phase in perovskite and reduces defect density, leading to the production of perovskite solar cells (PSCs) with a conversion efficiency of 23%. According to Professor Abate, the polymer acts as a buffer layer, protecting the individual perovskite crystals from thermal and mechanical stress. The team used Enlitech QE-R2, SS-X50 measurement equipment and a solar simulator to conduct experiments. After undergoing harsh conditions for 3,000 hours and over 100 temperature cycles (-60°C to 80°C), the perovskite solar cells produced using this method still maintain over 96% efficiency. This breakthrough will greatly advance the practicality of perovskite solar cells in commercial applications and further optimization may lead to a life span of up to 20 years, similar to silicon solar cells.