Development of low-cost and high-efficiency solar modules based on perovskite solar cells for large-scale applications.

Solar energy has emerged as a viable and competitive renewable resource due to its abundance and cost-effectiveness. To meet the global energy demands, there is a growing need for efficient devices with unique compositions. In this study, we designed and analyzed a perovskite solar cell (PSC) incorporating methylammonium tin iodide (CH3NH3SnI3) as the active optical absorber material, tin iodide (SnO2) as the electron transport layer (ETL), and copper thiocyanate (CuSCN) as the hole transport layer (HTL) using SCAPS-1D software for numerical investigations. Subsequently, the optimized outcomes were implemented in the PVSyst software package to derive the characteristics of a solar module based on the proposed novel solar cell composition. The objective of our research was to enhance the stability of solar cell for use in solar module. This was achieved by optimizing the thicknesses of the compositional layers which resulted in the enhancement of excess electron and hole mobilities and a reduction in defect densities, thereby leading to an improvement in the device performance. The optimization of excess electron and hole mobilities, as well as defect densities, was conducted to improve the device performance. SCAPS calculations indicated that the perovskite absorber layer (CH3NH3SnI3) may achieve the best possible performance with a maximum optimized thickness of 3.2 µm. The optimized thickness value for CuSCN-HTL and SnO2-ETL were found to be 0.07 µm and 0.05 µm respectively resulting in a maximum power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 23.57%. Variations in open circuit voltage (Voc), short circuit current (Jsc), fill factor (FF %), and quantum efficiency (QE) associated with the optimized thickness values of all layers in the ITO/SnO2/CH3NH3SnI3/CuSCN/Mo composition were critically analyzed. The use of these input parameters resulted in power creation of 557.4 W for a module consisting of 72 cells with an annual performance ratio of 80.3%. These recent investigations are expected to be effective in the design and fabrication of eco-friendly and high-performance solar cells in terms of efficiency.

Experimental and numerical investigations on feasibility of inorganic KSnCl3 perovskite absorber and SWCNT-HTL for solar cells.

Inorganic metal halide perovskite materials have attracted remarkable attention as light harvesters because of their promising optoelectronic merits and photovoltaic features like tunable band gaps, high charge carrier mobilities and greater absorption coefficients. In order to explore new inorganic perovskite materials for use in optoelectronic devices Potassium Tin Chloride (KSnCl3) has been experimentally synthesized using a supersaturated recrystallization technique at ambient conditions. The resultant nanoparticle (NP) specimens were analyzed for optical and structural properties by characteristic available techniques including scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX) and UV visible spectroscopy. Experimental investigations about structure reveals that KSnCl3 crystallizes in orthorhombic phase with particle size of 400-500 nm. SEM showed better crystallization and EDX confirmed the accurate structural composition. UV-Visible analysis indicated a prominent absorption peak at 504 nm, and the band gap is 2.70 eV. Theoretical investigations of KSnCl3 were also carried out via AB-initio calculations in Wein2k simulation program using modified Becke Johnson (mBJ) and generalized gradient approximations (GGA). Optical properties like extinction coefficient k (ω), complex parts of dielectric constant (ε 1, ε 2), reflectivity R (ω), refractive index n (ω), optical conductivity L (ω) and absorption coefficient α (ω) were examined and it was observed that . theoretical investigations were consistent with experimental findings. Incorporation of KSnCl3 as an absorber material along with single walled carbon nanotubes as p-type materials in (AZO/IGZO/KSnCl3/CIGS/SWCNT/Au) solar cell configuration have been investigated by SCAPS-1D simulation package. Open circuit voltage (Voc) of 0.9914 V, short circuit current density (Jsc) of 47.32067 mA/cm2 and a remarkable efficiency of 36.823% with has been predicted. Thermally stable KSnCl3 may become potential source in manufacturing of photovoltaic and optoelectronic applications on large scale.

Superior Magnetoresistance Performance of Hybrid Graphene Foam/Metal Sulfide Nanocrystal Devices.

Interfaces between metals and semiconducting materials can inevitably influence the magnetotransport properties, which are crucial for technological applications ranging from magnetic sensing to storage devices. By taking advantage of this, a metallic graphene foam is integrated with semiconducting copper-based metal sulfide nanocrystals, i.e., Cu2ZnSnS4 (copper-zinc-tin-sulfur) without direct chemical bonding and structural damage, which creates numerous nanoboundaries that can be basically used to tune the magnetotransport properties. Herein, the magnetoresistance of a graphene foam is enhanced from nearly 90 to 130% at room temperature and under the application of 5 T magnetic field strength due to the addition of Cu2ZnSnS4 nanocrystals in high densities. We believe that the enhancement of magnetoresistance in hybrid graphene foam/Cu2ZnSnS4 nanocrystals is due to the evolution of the mobility fluctuation mechanism, triggered by the formation of nanoboundaries. Incorporating Cu2ZnSnS4 nanocrystals into a graphene foam not only provides an effective way to further enhance the magnitude of magnetoresistance but also opens a suitable window to achieve efficient and highly functional magnetic sensors with a large, linear, and controllable response.