US researchers receive grant to carry out further study on perovskites based solar cell

Researchers from Brown University in Rhode Island, US have been awarded a $4m grant by National Science Foundation to research on solar cells made from perovskites.

The research project intends to develop solar cells from perovskites, which is a class of crystalline material.

University of Nebraska-Lincoln (UNL) and Rhode Island College (RIC) will be assisting the research team from Brown University for the project.

Brown’s Institute for Molecular and Nanoscale Innovation director and School of Engineering professor Nitin Padture said: "Perovskites have great promise for use in a variety of highly efficient, low-cost solar cells.

"We want to understand better the basic science behind these solar cells, look for ways to develop new technologies based on that understanding, and investigate scalable production methods that could one day bring perovskite solar cells to market."

The technology needs further research to use the material for mass production of solar cells.

Besides, the researchers also need to understand how exactly the perovskite cells work at the molecular level, which can assist them in improving ‘efficiency of perovskite films and optimizing them for different applications’.

More research is also likely to help the teams in combining the material with other materials and technologies for new or better inventions.

Padture said: "The cells that people are making now are quite small.

"Small cells are great for testing efficiency in the lab, but the process needs to be scaled up to bring products to market. Better understanding of the underlying materials science is key to addressing this challenge."

Besides the research, the NSF grant will also be used for other green power technology initiatives started by Brown University and will be paid over a four years duration.

NSF allowed the grant under its Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (EPSCoR) program.

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Image: Brown’s Institute for Molecular and Nanoscale Innovation director Nitin Padture (left) and engineering graduate student Yuanyuan Zhou examine solar cell film made from perovskite. Photo: courtesy of Brown University.