UK-based startup Aerosolar has developed a post-deposition process for perovskite solar cells that reportedly improves device efficiency and stability.
The company describes the process as “simple and effective” across a wide range of perovskite compositions, device structures and areas.
“We developed the aerosol-assisted solvent treatment in the lab using a reactor with 2.5 cm x 7.5 cm. We are scaling it to 23 cm x 23 cm, to accommodate up to the M12 wafer size,” Aerosolar, founder, Joe Briscoe, told pv magazine.“The business model is to begin with consulting and design of bespoke equipment, potentially progressing to manufacturing standardized equipment.”
The company plans to apply its process in both batch-based and roll-to-roll processing, working with perovskite solar cell manufacturers who want to implement the process step. It recently received a tech transfer grant from Innovate UK, the UK's national innovation agency.
The technology was originally tested with a dimethylformamide (DMF) solution alone or with added methylammonium chloride (MACI), which enhances the grain growth of perovskite cells, reducing local defects and improving overall uniformity.
Compared to direct thermal annealing, the novel technique reportedly enables processing at lower temperatures. Aerosolar said it supports improved crystallinity and grain size, accompanied by a narrowing in grain size distribution. Also notable is that throughout the aerosol treatment, the films remain solid, and there is no dissolution of the perovskite film, with the process taking less than five minutes.
pv magazine print edition
Aerosol is targeting manufacturers of perovskite solar cells with its new solvent process. It was described in the study “Aerosol Assisted Solvent Treatment: A Universal Method for Performance and Stability Enhancements in Perovskite Solar Cells,” in Advanced Energy Materials.
This content is protected by copyright and may not be reused. If you want to cooperate with us and would like to reuse some of our content, please contact: editors@pv-magazine.com.
2 comments
By submitting this form you agree to pv magazine using your data for the purposes of publishing your comment.
Your personal data will only be disclosed or otherwise transmitted to third parties for the purposes of spam filtering or if this is necessary for technical maintenance of the website. Any other transfer to third parties will not take place unless this is justified on the basis of applicable data protection regulations or if pv magazine is legally obliged to do so.
You may revoke this consent at any time with effect for the future, in which case your personal data will be deleted immediately. Otherwise, your data will be deleted if pv magazine has processed your request or the purpose of data storage is fulfilled.
Further information on data privacy can be found in our Data Protection Policy.