Engineers set efficiency world record for emerging solar cell material

Photovoltaic researchers at UNSW demonstrate best-ever results for emerging solar cell material antimony chalcogenide.

UNSW engineers have made a major step forward in the development of a new type of solar cell that could help make future solar panels cheaper, more efficient and more durable.

The research team has improved the performance of solar cells made from antimony chalcogenide, which is an emerging photovoltaic material regarded as a strong candidate for next-generation solar technology.

Their work, published in Nature Energy, has resulted in a certified efficiency of 10.7% — the highest independently verified performance for this material anywhere in the world to date.

This result earned antimony chalcogenide its first ever inclusion in the international Solar Cell Efficiency Tables which track record-setting results worldwide.

And just as importantly, the team say they have discovered the fundamental chemical mechanism underlying the hydrothermal deposition process. It explains why earlier versions of the material underperformed.

And that knowledge could accelerate the development of antimony chalcogenide even faster and further moving forward.