Trina Solar, Microquanta testing perovskite, tandem modules at UNSW site

Backed by AUD 5.6 million ($3.8 million) in funds through the Australian Renewable Energy Agency’s (ARENA’s) ultra low-cost solar (ULCS) research and development funding round, the University of New South Wales (UNSW) is conducting an AUD 18 million commercial perovskite and perovskite-silicon tandem modules field test.

Run in partnership with Chinese solar technology company Trina Solar, Chinese high-tech company MicroQuanta, the United Kingdom-based University of Surrey, and Australian science and research organisation CSIRO, modules have been sourced confidentially from multiple manufacturers.

Up to 160 next-generation solar modules are being mounted outdoors at a UNSW Manly Vale property, 28 kilometres north of Sydney’s CBD, where they will be tested under changing temperature conditions, in humidity, intense ultraviolet light, rain, salty air and storms.

The site will accommodate both single-junction perovskite modules and several forms of tandem technology, with the perovskite layer directly integrated onto silicon, or stacked as separate perovskite or silicon devices.

UNSW Sydney School of Photovoltaic and Renewable Energy Engineering (SPREE) Senior Research Fellow and Project Lead, Jessica Yajie Jiang, said early observations have already revealed quite different behaviours.

“They are operating very differently, and their failure modes are different as well. That is what makes the project so interesting,” Jiang said.

“The question is whether these perovskite modules will give us the lifetime we expect,” Jiang said.

The experiment will also address the issue of silicon in solar panels which Jiang said are approaching its physical ceiling.

“The theoretical efficiency limit for silicon is 29.4%, and the record is already exceeded 28%, so people are asking – how we can push beyond the current technology? How do we go beyond 30% efficiency?” Jiang said.

“The perovskite absorbs one part of the sunlight and the silicon absorbs another, [so] together, they maximise the use of the entire solar spectrum. That is how the overall efficiency can be boosted much higher.”

Once outdoor observations are complete environmental conditions will then be recreated in doors and the modules returned to the lab for controlled testing.

A microscopic and nanoscale analysis will also allow researchers to see what happens within the materials as performance declines over time.

“We want to understand why modules fail – what is really going on and identify the degradation mechanism at the nanoscale,” Jiang said.

Results will be returned to the manufacturer for design or manufacturing adjustments that will then send back new modules for further testing.

“By completing that cycle, we understand more about what is happening in commercial products and help manufacturers improve them,” Jiang says.

The ‘Field-testing of commercial perovskite and tandem modules’ project will run until 2031.

The post appeared first on pv magazine Global.