Flexible and Highly Efficient 'Solar Cells' Development... Manufactured by Roll-to-Roll Process

Development of Lightweight, Flexible, and Large-Area Solar Cells
First Pilot-Scale Technology Developed for Rapid Roll-to-Roll Printing Process
Applications Expected in Wearables, Automobiles, and Buildings

[Asia Economy Reporter Junho Hwang] A perovskite solar cell technology that can be applied to wearable devices, buildings, and automobiles has been developed. This technology enables the development of flexible perovskite cells with world-class efficiency. In particular, these cells can be mass-produced using a newspaper printing method, which is expected to contribute to the commercialization of perovskite cells.

The Perovskite Solar Cell Research Team at the Korea Research Institute of Chemical Technology (Principal Researcher Jangwon Seo, Senior Researcher Seongsik Shin, former Postdoctoral Researcher Jaehun Jeong) announced on the 17th that their related research paper was recently published in the international academic journal Energy & Environmental Science.

Development of Flexible Solar Cell Technology with World-Class Efficiency

The research team developed a technology to configure perovskite cells flexibly. They developed a structure that creates a double layer of the electron transport layer through which electrons move. The first layer consists of relatively small tin oxide (SnO2) particles densely packed, and on top of that, the second layer is made with a porous structure containing larger tin zinc oxide (Zn2SnO4) particles sparsely distributed.

This uneven structure allows electrons generated in the perovskite layer to move more smoothly. Additionally, it enables the crystals within the perovskite layer to grow larger and more uniformly. The larger and more uniform the crystals of the perovskite material, the better the electron mobility, which increases the solar cell's efficiency.

The research team also succeeded in implementing perovskite solar cells on a large area (20x20 cm²) using this technology. The efficiency of this cell reaches 20.7%.

Production Using Solar Cell Printing Method

Furthermore, Principal Researcher Jangwon Seo and Senior Researcher Youngyun Kim of the research team developed a roll-to-roll process technology that enables fast and easy mass production of flexible perovskite solar cells. This technology utilizes gravure printing, a method where ink is applied to a metal printer engraved with a specific pattern and then printed. This is the first time that this printing technique has been applied to perovskite solar cells. The team also developed a new solvent (tert-butyl alcohol) that is harmless to the human body and not significantly affected by process time variables, enabling this process. The related paper was recently published in Nature Communications.

Researcher Jangwon Seo stated, "The current world’s highest efficiency for flexible solar cells is about 20.8%, achieved with inorganic thin-film solar cells (Swiss EMPA)," adding, "This research is a comparable outstanding achievement." He continued, "Flexible perovskite solar cells can be made using a roll-to-roll solution process, which is inexpensive, lightweight, and can adhere to curved surfaces," and said, "It is expected to be utilized in automobiles, portable electronic devices, and more in the future."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.