Halide perovskites could push the transformation of solar energy production and consumption.
The need for cheaper, greener power means that the energy landscape is converting faster than at any other point in history. This is particularly true of solar-based electricity and battery storage. Both costs have dropped at unmatched rates over the past years, and energy-efficient technologies like LED lighting have also extended.
Access to inexpensive solar power and storage will alter how the world produces and uses power, enabling the transport sector's electrification. In addition, new chemical-based economies can store renewable energy as fuels and help new devices make up the internet of things.
But the present energy technologies won't lead the world to this future. Instead, it will shortly hit efficiency and cost limits. The capability for future reductions in the cost of electricity from silicon solar, for instance, is limited.
This is because the manufacture of each panel needs a fair amount of energy, and factories are costly to develop. And the cost of production can be hastened a little further; the costs of solar deployments are now controlled by the extras – installation, wiring, electronics, and many others. This implies that present solar power systems are unlikely to meet the required fraction of the 30 TeraWatt (TW) global power requirements fast enough to address climate change issues.
Different companies are functioning with a promising new family of materials like halide perovskites. They are semiconductors, conducting charges when activated with light. Perovskite inks are deposited upon glass or plastic to generate extremely thin films – around one-hundredth of the width of a human hair – created of metal, halide, and organic ions.
These films make solar cells or LED devices when put between electrode contacts. Although cheap processing, these materials are remarkably efficient as solar cells and light emitters.
These technologies are quickly being commercialized, particularly on the solar cell front. But the real prospect is to create highly effective cells beyond the efficiency of silicon cells. So although the first products are emerging, there are still challenges. But the research is futuristic and promising.
