Australia (Commonwealth Union) – Efficiency and cost have been major drawbacks in the journey towards renewable energy sources. The increased usage of renewable energy sources are likely to bring down the price and increased research is increasing the efficiency.
An enhancement in solar panel efficiency may be set to take off as studies by The Australian National University (ANU) brings down its current limitations. ANU scientists discovered a procedure to enhance the performance of silicon photovoltaic (PV) also known as solar cells. The procedure involved carrying out via the addition of “passivating contacts” between the metal and silicon parts of the solar cell, increasing efficiency.
Lead ANU researcher and PhD candidate, Mohamed Ismael indicated that the results will assist in furthering the productivity of silicon solar cells nearer to their theoretical limit. “Each day, the sun produces significantly more energy than needed to power the whole planet. The only limitation is our ability to economically convert it to electricity,” he said.
Solar cells are devices changing light energy in the form of photons to electrical energy. Currently solar cells do not function at their maximum capacity as a result of substantial electrical losses linked to the direct contact of metals to silicon. Dr. Lachlan Black, a Research Fellow from ANU, stated that transition metal oxides like titanium oxide have a lot of qualities making them perfect as passivating contact layers. “This isn’t a new idea, but the way in which we combined these layers has produced better results and higher operating voltages than anything previously reported,” he said.
Demand for PV is a multi-billion-dollar industry, having silicon solar cells making up 95% of all commercial solar cells. This is expected to stay dominant for the foreseeable future as they have beneficial aspects compared to competitors. Dr. Black further stated that the success of the findings could bring about the technology in just about every solar panel on roofs or utility-scale solar plants.
