This is the claim of its creator Dr Jamie Laird, a research fellow at the ARC Centre of Excellence in Exciton Science and the University of Melbourne. Described as the first of its kind, the DIY device started life as a personal project of Laird’s and was originally intended to analyse minerals.
Perovskite solar cells can match silicon for efficiency, are cheaper to manufacture and more flexible, but haven’t yet become commercially viable due to instability when exposed to heat, light, moisture and oxygen.
Dr Laird’s device combines a microscope and a special laser, which produces pictures and maps of the defects within solar cells and tells scientists where the cells are losing power or efficiency over time and use. It also provides data to indicate why, Laird said.
“The basis of the technique is microscopy but merging it with frequency analysis,” said Laird. “We use a laser beam and we focus to a spot and scan across the device to measure the quality of the solar cell.
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“This new method allows us to do imaging analysis of whole or complete solar cells and look at how they perform, how they change with time and ageing, and how good a solar cell they are.”
In addition to partners at Monash University, a team from Oxford University is already sending samples of cutting-edge prototypes to be tested by Laird’s homemade machine.
Members of the University of Sydney working on experimental solar cells for satellites and other space vehicles are also on the waiting list to collaborate.
“You can’t have a solar cell that decomposes quickly when it’s meant to last 20 years in the field,” Laird commented. “This is a missing link in the repertoire of techniques we have to throw at that problem.”
Dr Laird’s work has been published in the journal Small Methods.
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