Perovskite Solar PV. FINALLY some good news!

Perovskite is not a material most of us will have come across in normal daily life, but it has the potential to take solar photovoltaics to levels of efficiency that were previously thought to be impossible. The question of course, is the same one we ask about all new 'energy transition' technologies..."Does it actually work in the real world?" The answer, until recently, has been "No!" But that appears to be about to change in 2024.

Special credit to DW Planet A for the footage between 3:50 and 4:07
Check out their latest video on Perovskites here -

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Video Transcripts available at our website

NEVER FORGET : EXXON KNEW..!

...and so did Royal Dutch SHELL

Research Links

Previous 'Just Have a Think' videos on Perovskite -

Oxford PV

2024 Global Cleantech 100 List

Steve Albrecht at Fraunhofer

Albrecht et al

Chin et al

CUBIC PV

LONGi Solar

China Solar PV installations 2024

Pepperoni EU Perovskite Project

Precedence Research

Check out other YouTube Climate Communicators

[LiiMuRi]

As a chemist who has worked on perovskite-structured materials in general, and photovoltaic perovskites a bit too, I'd like to point out some small errors in the video: Perovskite mineral is CaTiO3, but this is not the "perovskite" in PV cells. Those materials are various lead halide materials, which have the same crystal structure as CaTiO3: the perovskite structure. But the chemical composition is completely different, as are the properties. You cannot make solar cells from CaTiO3

[leftcoaster]

As a Canadian. I enjoy hearing people are "beavering away".

[SOMAsolarsystems]

As an installer, I cant wait to see some from the wholesalers as this would mean people in smaller properties could have a system worthwhile and get their bills down. They dont need to be big roofs or even face south. East West splits will work well, I do lots of them and my customers get their investment back with 5 -7 years with plenty of life to make and save a tonne of money.

[stefanweilhartner]

the supercool thing is, that the additional efficiency is still there in winter where the loss of energy mostly affects the infrared part of the spectrum.
using them vertically on a fence or balcony still gives you a good amount of efficiency in winter.
the vertical installation is not perfect in summer but it is a better balance throughout the whole year for people who live a few thousand kilometer away from the equator.
and together with a sodium ion battery, you get a quite affordable setup to produce cheap energy everywhere all year.
btw.: the University of Bayreuth pushed sodium ion batteries to 165Wh/kg which is fantastic!!!
the future of renewables is bright!!!

[Yanquetino]

🎶 Sunshine on my rooftop makes me happy
Sunshine in my car can make me smile
Sunshine in my household is so lovely
Sunshine almost always makes me high 🎵

(Apologies to John Denver)

[Mtnsunshine]

As a person who founded her own solar installation business for remote homes 27 years ago, I have seen many wonderful improvements in the hardware necessary to get electricity to these off-grid homes. This is yet another good improvement that should benefit people well into the future. 👍 Thanks for the update.

[David_Poole]

I've been really enjoying this series. Thank you for going back into these old video topics to review what has happened. I feel like more often than not big headlines get published on a new idea and then it disappears into the void. Seeing where these technologies are at after the headlines have come and gone is very helpful

[kruegdude]

Came for thoughts on solar PV, left with a previously unheard and wonderful new phrase “beavering away”. Thanks for all you do.

[georgeorwell]

I have to say I love your follow ups.... its easy to just take some lab article and think "here is the breakthrough", but we learned from Tesla.... prototypes are easy, production is hard. Thank you for following up the most probable candidates...

[willxin]

It is hard to always be cheer leading these folks involved with renewables and the new energy economy. But on the other hand we have a lot of just wait and see. This looks promising. It would be great if it all works out.

Just to note what you said, solar/wind/storage IS the cheapest way to provide power in history. We don’t need to wait and see, we just need a lot of folks to get out of the way. And let folks get it done.

[confusedofhinckley]

Twelve years ago, I was planning to put 4kW of solar panels on the roof of my UK house, not just to save the planet, but to make the most out of the government's hopelessly overgenerous (at the time) Feed In Tarif. However, I was a bit worried what adding these panels might do to the value of my house. So, I asked a few estate agents whether such an installation might add, or detract value. And they all "What are solar panels?" (!!!) I'd like to think we've moved on a bit.

[winrampen]

Dave,
I'm pleased you took the time to come back to this. One metric that is super important is how much energy and water is required to make a solar cell. I've read somewhere that Perovskite cells require something like two orders of magnitude less energy to produce per watt of generating capacity. That means that the amount of time a solar cell has to operate before it digs itself out of the energy hole created by its manufacture is significantly less.

[ravenx]

As always a clean concise informative and entertaining presentation, in my book one of the Top YouTube presenters currently on the planet 👊🏻

[SeeNickView]

Wonderful video Dave. As someone in Solar PV, I'm eager to see Perovskite penetrate the market in the same way bifacial technology has in the last 5 or so years.

With perovskite and bifacial modules, we definitely might be looking at 35% well before 2030.

[Praisethesunson]

The answer to our problems is shown to us everyday.

We just need to harness the energy provided to us by the best nuclear fusion reactor in the solar system.

PRAISE THE SUN!

[Kevin_Street]

Thank you for this video! This is one of the subjects you've previously covered where a follow-up is probably most valuable, because perovskites have such enormous potential.

So the short answer to "Where are they now?" is that Oxford PV has made good progress on perovskite solar cells, and is on the verge of selling the first commercial product. Cubic PV is a few years behind them with lots of innovative new ideas and plenty of funding, but no factory built just yet. And behind them are researchers in different countries with their own innovations, but so far none have gotten outside of the lab.

Well, here's hoping Oxford PV is a big success! Hopefully they'll pioneer this new technology, maybe with Cubic PV as their biggest competitor, making it both commercially successful and increasingly efficient. And then we'll reach the point where solar energy is so cheap and efficient it's just the natural choice for everyone. No warnings about the fate of the planet required: self interest and simple economics will drive adoption.

[SeekingBeautifulDesign]

There is another approach to further improve efficiency:

With current silicon is it is cheaper to buy extra panels than to use solar tracking. But, as the kWh per panel increases with perovskite layering, presumably cost/kWh will drop while cost/panel will rise. That sets the stage for tracking technology to become economically viable in general. (It is viable in the small set of edge cases where you need a certain amount of power, but have a limited space for panels.)

[danburnes]

The added efficiency is really a big deal considering limited roof space for many home owners in the city. Excited to see the progress and new products coming out.

[martincotterill]

Cheers Dave! A tonic for my soul to hear some good news in these dark times. Keep up the good work!

[artisanelectrics]

Great video! Can't wait to start installing these!