Revolutionary materials research
Helmholtz High Impact Award for novel tandem solar cells
Berlin, 9 September 2023 – Renewable energies are an important factor in the energy transition in Germany. In 2022, around 44 percent of domestic electricity came from sources as wind and sun. In addition to wind power, photovoltaics in particular contributes many gigawatts of electricity every year. A great hope for the future are solar cells consisting of the mineral perovskite: they are cheap, efficient and could be produced without much effort. A multidisciplinary team from Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin and Forschungszentrum Jülich is continuously researching and improving the novel semiconductors to bring them into use and provide green energy. The Helmholtz Association and the Stifterverband für die Deutsche Wissenschaft in Germany are honoring the four scientists with the first High Impact Award for their approach and research achievements.
Eva Unger (3. v.l., Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin) and Michael Saliba (4. v.l., Forschungszentrum Jülich) accept the first Helmholtz High Impact Award from Helmholtz President Otmar D. Wiestler (2. v.l.), Federal Research Minister Bettina Stark-Watzinger (5. v.l.) and Laudator Carla Seidel (1. v.l., BASF) on behalf of their research team. Picture: Till Budde
Current solar cells mostly use silicon to convert sunlight into electricity, but can only use a comparatively small part of the incoming radiation for this. The mineral perovskite is much more efficient. Solar cells with a perovskite layer can absorb just as much light, but are up to 100 times thinner. This makes them particularly suitable for applications on curved surfaces, for example as foldable solar cells on cars or building facades. The layers can be produced from affordable materials and printed over large areas with little energy input using industrial technologies. If silicon and perovskite are combined, the performance can be increased even further. However, these "tandem solar cells" have so far faced a number of challenges that prevent their widespread use: perovskites are not yet stable enough, they react sensitively to moisture or heat and disintegrate quickly. In addition, they contain lead - a substitute must be found for environmentally compatible application.
Steve Albrecht, Antonio Abate and Eva Unger from Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin and Michael Saliba from Forschungszentrum Jülich are combining their expertise in electrical engineering, chemistry and physics to meet these challenges. With their research, they are making fundamental, pioneering contributions to enable the commercial and environmentally friendly production of perovskites for photovoltaics and other opto-electronic applications. With great success: The team's current research shows that perovskite silicon tandem solar cells can convert more than 30 percent of solar energy into electricity by now. The team wants to make the obtained data freely available to the scientific community in order to make the results transparent and comparable.
The four researchers have now received the first Helmholtz High Impact Award for their approach and results. "The team led by Steve Albrecht and Eva Unger impressively demonstrates the strength of the Helmholtz Association: it combines different disciplines and works together across centers to tackle one of the greatest challenges of our time: the energy transition. With their unique expertise and innovative strength, the four scientists are making a decisive contribution to advancing and shaping cutting-edge research in the field of photovoltaics. I cordially congratulate this young international team on their well-deserved High Impact Award," says Helmholtz President Otmar D. Wiestler.
About the Helmholtz High Impact Award
Together with the Stifterverband für die Deutsche Wissenschaft, the Helmholtz Association is awarding the newly established "Helmholtz High Impact Award" for the first time this year. The award, which is endowed with 50,000 euros, recognizes highly innovative interdisciplinary contributions that address a major challenge in science, industry or society. The focus is on new approaches that have the potential to act as a 'game changer' in a relevant issue area. The award ceremony took place at this year's Helmholtz Annual Meeting on 27 September.
Further information
Helmholtz Challenge #13: Solarstrom reichlich und preiswert erzeugen.
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