Solar cells could become more efficient and cheaper to mass-produce as a result of an EPSRC-funded research project at St Andrew's University. The project, led by research fellow Dr Jonathon Harwell of the university's physics and astronomy department, aims to develop a back-contact perovskite solar cell (PSC). Perovskite describes a type of crystal structure, but in solar cells refers specifically to lead-halide perovskite, which has electrical properties similar to silicon. But whereas silicon must be grown slowly as crystals at temperatures of over 1000℃, perovskite can be crystallised out of a solution of two inexpensive raw materials and deposited by methods including printing.
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