New perovskite photovoltaics from Rome’s Tor Vergata university

CHOSE and Rome Tor Vergata university’s Department of Chemical Science and Technology have realized the first real scale module using perovskite crystals

(Rinnovabili.it) – In the beginning was the simplified cell realized in the laboratories of Oxford university. Now perovskite photovoltaics is also being developed at Rome’s Tor Vergata university. Here the first real scale module made from organic-inorganic hybrid perovskite has been realized through the successful collaboration of the group of Prof. Silvia Licoccia of the university’s Dipartimento di Scienze e Tecnologie Chimiche and the team of Polo Solare Organico-Regione Lazio (CHOSE), led by Prof. Aldo Di Carlo of Tor Vergata’s Dipartimento di Ingegneria Elettronica. They have been the first to print the various layers that make up the hybrid module; their paper has been published in Physical Chemistry Chemical Physics.

“Perovskite materials are compounds with a special crystalline structure that can host several different elements; their flexibility makes them suitable for a variety of important applications “, says Licoccia.

Although the energy applications of these new light-absorbing materials have been explored for some years, achieving the scale required for industrialization has taken a long time. The work of the CHOSE researchers has now allowed a real module measuring more than 20 cm2 to be obtained, where the solar cells are interconnected to increase the voltage. “Over the next few years hybrid perovskites will revolutionize the production of photovoltaic cells and modules. These materials are in the form of ink that can be deposited by traditional printing techniques. It’s a very simple technology that will considerably reduce the cost of energy produced by photovoltaics” notes Di Carlo.

Translated by Silvia Modena