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 Russian 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 higher reliability . The cells were produced using ‘mechanochemistry’, whereby reactions between solid compounds are activated by mechanical force – essentially the same concept as grinding ingredients in a mortar. The so - called " mechanochemistry " technique produced cells with a performance efficiency that peaked at 20 % , before stabilising at 16.8 % .
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 Russian 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 higher reliability . The so - called " mechanochemistry " technique produced cells with a performance efficiency that peaked at 20 % , before stabilising at 16.8 % .