Perovskite and organic solar cells rocketed into space

Date:
August 12, 2020
Source:
Cell Press
Summary:
Researchers have sent perovskite and organic solar cells on a rocket
into space. The solar cells withstood the extreme conditions in
space, producing power from direct sunlight and reflective light
from the Earth's surface. The work sets the foundation for future
near-Earth application as well as potential deep space missions.



FULL STORY ==========================================================================
For the first time, researchers in Germany sent perovskite and organic
solar cells on a rocket into space. The solar cells withstood the extreme conditions in space, producing power from direct sunlight and reflective
light from the Earth's surface. The work, published August 12 in the
journal Joule, sets the foundation for future near-Earth application as
well as potential deep space missions.


==========================================================================
One of the goals for space missions is to minimize the weight of equipment
that the rocket carries. While current inorganic silicon solar panels
used in space missions and satellites have high efficiencies, they are
also very heavy and rigid. The emerging technology of hybrid perovskite
and organic solar cells that are incredibly light and flexible becomes
an ideal candidate for future applications.

"What counts in this business is not the efficiency, but the produced
electric power per weight, which is called specific power," says
senior author Peter Mu"ller-Buschbaum of Technical University of
Munich in Germany. "The new type of solar cells reached values between
7 and 14 milliwatts per square centimeter during the rocket flight." "Transferred onto ultra-thin foils, one kilogram (2.2 pounds) of our
solar cells would cover more than 200 square meters (2,153 square feet)
and would produce enough electric power for up to 300 standard 100-W
light bulbs," says first author Lennart Reb, of Technical University
of Munich in Germany. "This is ten times more than what the current
technology is offering." In June 2019, the rocket launched in northern
Sweden, where the rocket entered space and reached 240 kilometers (149
miles) in altitude. The perovskite and organic solar cells, located at
the payload, successfully withstood extreme conditions on the rocket
ride -- from the rumbling forces and heat at liftoff to the strong UV
light and ultra-high vacuum in space. "The rocket was a big step," says
Reb. "Going to the rocket was really like going into a different world."
In addition to operating efficiently in space, the perovskite and organic
solar cells can also function in low-light conditions. When there's no
direct light on the traditional solar cell, the cell typically stops
working, and the power output turns zero. However, the team discovered
an energy output fueled by the weak diffuse light reflected from Earth's surface from perovskite and organic solar cells that weren't exposed to
direct sunlight.

"This is a good hint and confirms that the technology can go into
what is called deep space missions, where you would send them far out
in space, far away from the sun, where standard solar cells wouldn't
work in," says Mu"ller- Buschbaum. "There's really exciting future for
this sort of technology, bringing these solar cells into more space
missions in the future." But before launching more new solar cells
into space, Mu"ller-Buschbaum says one of the limitations of the study
is the short time the rocket spent in space, where the total time was 7 minutes. The next step is to employ long-term applications in space, such
as satellites, to understand the cells' lifetime, long-term stability,
and full potential.

"It's the very first time these perovskite and organic solar
cells ever were in space, and that's really a milestone," says Mu"ller-Buschbaum. "The really cool thing is that this is now paving
the way for bringing these types of solar cells to more applications in
space. On the long run, this might also help to bring these technologies
for broader use in our terrestrial environment." The authors received financial support from Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft, the University
of Munich International Graduate School for Environmentally Responsible Functional Materials, and TUM.solar.


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========================================================================== Journal Reference:
1. Lennart K. Reb, Michael Bo"hmer, Benjamin Predeschly, Sebastian
Grott,
Christian L. Weindl, Goran I. Ivandekic, Renjun Guo, Christoph
Dreissigacker, Roman Gernha"user, Andreas Meyer, Peter
Mu"ller-Buschbaum.

Perovskite and Organic Solar Cells on a Rocket Flight. Joule,
2020; DOI: 10.1016/j.joule.2020.07.004 ==========================================================================

Link to news story: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/08/200812115317.htm

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