Researchers have found a way to improve the performance of an experimental type of solar cell that is thought to hold the key to cheaper and better energy production and storage. The technique replaces traditional solvent based processes with steel ball mill grinding. The Institute of Physics of the Polish Academy of Sciences and the École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne found that grinding the materials for so-called perovskite cells, instead of using a solvent, enabled their production at lower cost and with fewer defects, leading to increased reliability. Perovskites are crystalline structures made from carbon atoms arranged in a hexagonal pattern.
Researchers have found a way to improve the performance of an experimental type of solar cell that is thought to hold the key to cheaper and better energy production and storage. The Institute of Physics of the Polish Academy of Sciences and the École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne found that grinding the materials for so-called perovskite cells, instead of using a solvent, enabled their production at lower cost and with fewer defects, leading to increased reliability. Perovskites are crystalline structures made from carbon atoms arranged in a hexagonal pattern.