- Israeli scientists discover new solar cells that could reduce the cost of energy.
- The new solar cells are based on perovskite crystals and the fabrication is cheaper.
Israeli scientists have discovered new solar cells that could reduce the cost of energy per kWh by 75% while boosting crops. These new solar cells could help Israel exceed its renewable electricity production target while making farming more productive.
The new cells are expected to have much lower production costs than silicon-based photovoltaic cells, and will also significantly improve cultivation conditions in greenhouses by reducing heat and lowering greenhouse gas emissions.
The new solar cells are based on perovskite crystals and are produced in a relatively straightforward process using cheap and available materials.
A chemical substitution makes the solar cells transparent to the most efficient area of the light spectrum that drives photosynthesis, while a great part of the rest of the light energy is transformed into electricity.
Professor Lioz Etgar from the Institute of Chemistry, Hebrew University of Jerusalem stated that “We can change the chemistry and by that tailor the optical properties of the material. Therefore, it can be used as a semitransparent solar cell for greenhouses. Since these cells are semitransparent, some of the light is absorbed and some is going through the cells for the photosynthesis of the plants. As a result, the efficiency is lower than the highest efficiency of a solar cell. But still, we are talking about enough electricity that can be produced from these cells.”
Professor Etgar further mentioned that the new cells come for at least half of the price of standard cells. The material and the fabrication are cheaper.
The technology brings something that no other PV technology can do, which is the transparency attribute.