Some scientists at Saudi Arabia’s KAUST university are cooking up solar cells that could seriously shake up renewable energy. They’re combining two materials, perovskite and silicon, to make tandem cells that smash efficiency records for converting sunlight to power.
In 2023, the team led by Professor Stefaan De Wolf set two new world records with these perovskite-silicon tandems. And they report five other records were achieved by research groups worldwide. Clearly this combo has huge potential to dominate solar technology.
But setting lab records is one thing – making cells viable in the real world is the big challenge. Researchers have to consider stuff like weather, temperature, and how the cells will hold up for decades. They also need to make production affordable and less risky.
In a Science paper, the KAUST squad lays out the roadblocks and possible solutions to get these tandem cells commercialized. One idea is tailoring them for specific locations rather than a one-size-fits-all approach.
Professor De Wolf is pumped about the future, predicting a $10 billion market within a decade. His colleague Dr. Aydin is so jazzed that he’s starting his own lab in Europe in 2024 to keep pushing the research forward.
With Saudi Arabia gunning to ramp up renewables, the KAUST team’s drive to harness the sun’s power and make it affordable fits the country’s vision perfectly. If these tandem solar cells realize their potential, they could be a game changer in the fight against climate change. KAUST is aiming high, determined to bring the next generation of solar to the world!
