PREVIEW

Solar Panel Breakthrough Could Make Renewable Energy More Commercially Viable. 'The Independent' reports that a new 'miracle material' is behind a mass produced solar panel with significantly increased efficiency. Perovskite has the potential to revolutionize the renewable energy industry, however, its transition to commercial applications has been hampered by durability and reliability issues. A team led by Germany's Karlsruhe Institute of Technology believes the vacuum process could allow next-gen solar panels to become viable in the commercial market. "Vacuum-based processes have proven themselves in industry for many decades." "Although they can decisively advance the commercialization of solar cells, they are heavily underrepresented.", Ulrich W. Paetzold, Professor at the Institute of Microstructure Technology and Light Technology Institute at KIT, via 'The Independent'. 'The Independent' reports that solar cells made with a combination of silicon and perovskite have been shown to generate more energy than traditional silicon cells. According to Chinese solar technology firm Longi, their silicon-perovskite tandem solar cell is nearly 30% more efficient than the best silicon cells. Another startup in China claimed to have reached a silicon-perovskite tandem solar cell breakthrough that would allow them to begin mass production in 2023. At the same time, UK startup Oxford PV has also announced plans to make the perovskite tandem cells available commercially with a production facility in Germany. Details of the latest breakthrough in this next-gen technology were published in the journal 'Energy & Environmental Science’. THIS VIDEO MUST NOT BE EDITED FOR LENGTH TO COMBINE WITH OTHER CONTENT