...AND CHEAPER...:

Researchers at the Australian National University set the new efficiency record for perovskite solar cells, breaking a record that was already held by the Canberra-based university.

The results of the research have been published in the journal Nature, and detail how a solar conversion efficiency of 22.6 per cent for a one square centimetre cell, was achieved through improvements on previous perovskite solar cells. [...]

Perovskite solar cells, which consist of lightweight and flexible materials, have the potential to be produced at a lower cost and be deployed in a much wider range of situations, including being incorporated directly into the surfaces of structures like buildings and vehicles.

As perovskite solar cells can absorb different parts of the solar spectrum, they can also be combined with silicon solar cells, being "stacked" to produce a "tandem" cell that can achieve a higher combined operating efficiency - approaching 30 per cent.

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