Nanoscale Energy & Surface Engineering Group
Perovskite solar cells
Perovskite solar cells (PSCs) revolutionised dye-sensitised solar cells (DSSCs) utilised a lead halide perovskite as a sensitizer in the DSSC. There has been greater surge of research interest in PSCs due to the extraordinary material properties such as tuneable bandgap of the absorber material, wide absorption spectrum, ambipolar charge transport, long charge carrier diffusion lengths and lifetimes and lower production costs due to easy manufacturing via solution processing. Over the past few years we have been working on plasma functionalisation and deposition of new 2D/new hole transport material. We study electronic, optical and electrical properties.
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Self cleaning materials for solar cells
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Photovoltaic (PV) panels are the most common means to harvest solar energy – the most abundant renewable energy source - and convert it to electricity. Due to dust accumulation, PV cell efficiency can drop by about 40% within a year in a dusty climate. Cleaning PV panels by traditional approaches damages the cell surfaces and consumes large quantities of water – this exacerbates the water scarcity issues, in particular in water starved regions in western India and Sub-Saharan Africa, which are attractive locations for solar energy.
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The current project seeks to address these challenges and introduce scalable, spray coated ,Plasma activated deposition and transparent superhydrophobic coatings as a water saving, dust mitigation strategy for PV cells and solar-thermal mirrors. We will deploy the coatings in realistic test conditions in several states in India and in Rio de Janeiro in Brazil, and demonstrate the sustenance of PV and solar-thermal efficiency.
Funders
