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A team co-led by researchers at the University of California San Diego has developed a new way to make perovskite solar cells—a promising next-generation solar technology—more efficient and durable. By creating a temporary liquid while the material crystallizes, researchers were able to grow perovskite crystals that were larger, more uniform and contained fewer defects.

Solar cells, the building blocks of large solar panels, and light-emitting diodes made with these perovskites achieved efficiencies ranging from about 24% to 26%, which are on the high end for perovskite-based devices. The solar cells also retained most of their original efficiency after continuously operating for eight weeks under simulated sunlight.

Perovskites are a class of materials that have the potential to enable low-cost, high-efficiency solar cells. Unlike conventional silicon solar cells, perovskites can be processed from solutions and deposited as thin films, which could also enable simpler, lower-energy manufacturing.

But making a high-quality perovskite solar cell is challenging. Perovskite films are typically made up of many tiny crystals packed together. The interfaces between these crystals, known as grain boundaries, can contain defects that cause some of the energy captured from sunlight to be lost. These defects can become an even bigger problem when trying to make larger solar panels, where efficiency drops as the device gets bigger.

The team developed a way to grow perovskites with fewer of these defects.

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