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https://reneweconomy.com.au/a-piece-of-cake-australian-researchers-turn-to-baking-for-improvements-in-solar-cell-efficiency/>
"When it comes to analogies to explain how solar cells are manufactured, cake
baking is not one that immediately jumps to mind. But according to a group of
engineers from the University of New South Wales (UNSW), that’s exactly the
skill they’re trying to emulate to improve tandem solar cell efficiency.
Engineering researchers from UNSW, led by Scientia Professor Xiaojing Hao, from
UNSW’s School of Photovoltaic and Renewable Energy Engineering, have started
applying lessons from baking to better understand how to improve solar cells.
The researchers are working with a material known as CZTS – a promising option
for tandem solar cell semiconductors that is made from copper, zinc, tin and
sulphur; a group of materials much more abundant and environmentally friendly
than some used in semiconductor production.
But despite the promise, CZTS has not yet been able to reach the efficiencies
needed for commercial adoption.
According to the UNSW researchers, the problem for CZTS semiconductors has been
the creation of tiny defects during the manufacturing of the material.
This is where baking enters the picture.
“The cake analogy is really apt because that’s exactly what we are doing,” said
Hao.
“With a cake you mix all the different ingredients and put it into the oven. We
do a similar thing with solar cell material, except it goes into a furnace.”"
Share and enjoy,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
