IRES-Perovskites Info
Photovoltaics (PVs) are a critical pillar in global climate change mitigation efforts. While the worldwide PV market continues to grow by ~25% annually, a looming limitation needs to be addressed in this decade. Due to fundamental physical limitations of silicon, power conversion efficiencies of commercial solar cells are saturating at <27%, which will keep land-use and system costs locked at unnecessarily high values. In the last decade metal-halide perovskites (MHPs) have emerged as a potential solution to this problem due to their outstanding opto-electronic properties, defect tolerance, the possibility to use them in tandem with existing silicon technologies to improve efficiencies, and their ability to be processed from solutions at low energy and material use levels. The stability of MHP-based solar devices and their upscaling are current key challenges to their commercialization. This proposed IRES Program will strengthen an existing, but nascent, relationship between groups with MHP expertise in the United States and Germany, through student research exchanges (~7 participants per year for 10 weeks each), enhancing knowledge, accelerating shared understanding, and addressing issues of MHP scale-up.
