SYDNEY, May 1 (Xinhua) -- Researchers in Australia have developed a safer method to produce high-efficiency indoor solar panels without toxic materials, potentially paving the way for wider use in homes and offices.
Chemical engineers at Australia's University of Queensland (UQ) have developed a new fabrication method that eliminates the need for toxic lead and other hazardous solvents in perovskite indoor solar panels, said a UQ statement released Friday.
"Halide perovskites are an emerging technology that could replace silicon, offering much higher efficiencies and commercial potential," said UQ's Lyu Miaoqiang, co-author of the study published in ACS Energy Letters.
The UQ team developed a safe and scalable vapor-based manufacturing process for lead-free perovskite cells, achieving a record 16.36 percent power conversion efficiency under indoor light, compared with about 10 percent for conventional silicon technology.
"This material has very attractive properties that can absorb indoor light and convert very weak indoor light efficiently into electricity," Lyu said, adding that the process is much better suited to scalable manufacturing.
Lead-free perovskite indoor solar cells are seen as a potential replacement for coin-cell and button batteries in low-power devices, including environmental sensors, wearables, medical and health monitoring devices, and electronic shelf labels used in retail, researchers said.
"With suitable voltage management, these devices can replace coin cell batteries, reducing the number of small batteries that end up as waste or in children's toys," Lyu said, adding that commercial applications are expected within a few years. ■