Rucksacks, mobile phones, any object can generate power using this new coating

A new innovation by scientists at Oxford University could revolutionize solar electricity sector and reduce the need for silicon-based solar panels. Developed by researchers at the university’s Physics Department, the coating of a new power-generating material onto the surfaces of everyday objects such as rucksacks, cars, and mobile phones can transform energy generation.

Thin and flexible enough to apply to the surface of common object and any building, the new light-absorbing material matched the performance of single-layer, energy-generating materials known as silicon photovoltaics.

Researchers used a technique developed in Oxford that stacks multiple light-absorbing layers into one solar cell. They have harnessed a wider range of the light spectrum, allowing more power to be generated from the same amount of sunlight, according to scientists.

Material delivers more than 27% energy efficiency

Using this so-called multi-junction approach, the material has now been independently certified to deliver over 27% energy efficiency.

“During just five years experimenting with our stacking or multi-junction approach we have raised power conversion efficiency from around 6% to over 27%, close to the limits of what single-layer photovoltaics can achieve today,” said Dr Shuaifeng Hu, post doctoral fellow at Oxford University Physics.

“We believe that, over time, this approach could enable the photovoltaic devices to achieve far greater efficiencies, exceeding 45%.”

This compares with around 22% energy efficiency from solar panels today (meaning they convert around 22% of the energy in sunlight), but the versatility of the new ultra-thin and flexible material is also key, according to a press release .

At just over one micron thick, it is almost 150 times thinner than a silicon wafer. Unlike existing photovoltaics, generally applied to silicon panels, this can be applied to almost any surface.

Innovation could lower cost of solar energy

The innovation is expected to lower the cost of solar and make it more sustainable form of renewable energy.

Their innovation is claimed to have strong commercial potential and has already started to feed through into applications across the utilities, construction, and car manufacturing industries.

Dr Junke Wang, Marie Skłodowska Curie Actions Postdoc Fellow at Oxford University Physics, maintained that by using new materials which can be applied as a coating, researchers have shown they can replicate and out-perform silicon whilst also gaining flexibility.

“This is important because it promises more solar power without the need for so many silicon-based panels or specially-built solar farms.”

Wang further added that their he can envisage perovskite coatings being applied to broader types of surface to generate cheap solar power, such as the roof of cars and buildings and even the backs of mobile phones.

Wang believes that if more solar energy can be generated in this way, the world can foresee less need in the longer term to use silicon panels or build more and more solar farms.

Wang is among 40 scientists working on photovoltaics led by Professor of Renewable Energy Henry Snaith at Oxford University Physics Department. Their effort in photovoltaics, and especially the use of thin-film perovskite began around a decade ago and benefits from a bespoke, robotic laboratory.

“The latest innovations in solar materials and techniques demonstrated in our labs could become a platform for a new industry, manufacturing materials to generate solar energy more sustainably and cheaply by using existing buildings, vehicles, and objects,” said Snaith .