Perovskite solar cell application for energy

independent buildings

P S Harshita1 M Ganesh2
B.E. Civil Engineering B.E. Civil Engineering
M N M Jain engineering college M N M Jain engineering college
Chennai, India Chennai, India
amirtha261997@gmail.com amirtha261997@gmail.com

Abstract-This document explains about the application of Perovskite materials over traditional silicon in solar panel for achieving
energy independent buildings. Perovskites are crystalline materials that have great potential to replace silicon. This technique allows
customization of the shape, color and size of the module depending on particular needs and installs them wherever there is a free area
on the building. This means not being limited to the roof, static isolation angles, and climatic change which dramatically increases the
ability to harness energy from sun this technique has an ability to generate electricity even when illuminated by weak light sources. It
allows the operation in cloudy conditions, low incident angles, and in artificial light. It provides a more reliable power production and
allows implementation in areas where traditional solar cells are not viable. The stability and water resistance of the modules makes
them ideal for the construction industry. Ink-jet printing enables the creation of custom patterns and processing in ambient conditions
with a negligible waste of materials. This is facilitated by the drop on demand approach, which is accomplished by driving the nozzles
with a piezoelectric material. When perovskite crystal is used in the production of solar panel it enhances flexibility and transparency.
Inkjet printing of solar panel makes panel ultra thin which is even thinner than hair and thereby reduces weight with low cost. Due to
its semi transparency and tunable color property it can be used widely in the exterior parts of building without affecting aesthetic sense
of the building.

Keywords-Perovskites; silicon; crystalline; energy independent buildings; climatic change; cloudy conditions;

I. INTRODUCTION
Energy utilization from non-renewable energy sources are the major cause for global warming, an obvious way to mitigate
climate change is to design low or no-energy use buildings. With a view to developing energy-efficient structures, this article
provides a summary of building design criteria that can utilize solar power generation using perovskite solar cell application for
major energy demand in residential and industrial buildings.

II. COMPONENTS

A. Perovskite Solar Cells

The name 'perovskite solar cell' is derived from the ABX3 crystal structure of the absorber materials, which is referred to as
perovskite structure. The most commonly studied perovskite absorber is methylammonium lead trihalide. Halide perovskites are
excellent solar energy harvesting materials, with lab-scale efficiencies already exceeding established thin-film technologies such
as CdTe and CIGS. Perovskites offer a plethora of well-working compositions and variations, and their optoelectronic properties
make it a very versatile semiconductor. This quality stems from simple processing, that enables low-temperature methods
compatible with flexible substrates (e.g. plastic foil). Unlike crystalline silicon, perovskites perform well under low-light
illumination.

A) Ultrahigh-Efficiency and Low-Cost Polycrystalline Halide Perovskite Thin-Film Solar Cells:

Dual-junction thin-film tandem solar cells using low-cost polycrystalline halide perovskites (e.g., CH3NH3PbI3) for both top
and bottom cells. Halide perovskites have demonstrated exceptional progress in PV cell performance. Remarkably, such high-
efficiency perovskite solar cells can be made from polycrystalline materials by solution processing

B) Electronic Energy Level Alignment at the Carbon Nanotube / Organic Metal Halide Perovskite Interface:

Printed carbon contacts can be implemented as a charge-carrier transport layer alternative to conventional organic or oxide
transport layers. Metal-halide based perovskite solar cells have rapidly emerged as a promising alternative to traditional inorganic
and thin-film photovoltaics. Although charge transport layers are used on either side of perovskite absorber layers to extract
photo-generated electrons and holes, the time scales for charge extraction and recombination are poorly understood. Ideal charge
transport layers should facilitate large discrepancies between charge extraction and recombination rates. Here, we demonstrate
that highly enriched semiconducting single-walled carbon nanotube (SWCNT) films enable rapid (sub-picosecond) hole
extraction from a prototypical perovskite absorber layer and extremely slow back-transfer and recombination (hundreds of
microseconds). The energetically narrow and distinct spectroscopic signatures for charges within these SWCNT thin films enables
the unambiguous temporal tracking of each charge carrier with time-resolved spectroscopies covering many decades of time. The
efficient hole extraction by the SWCNT layer also improves electron extraction by the compact titanium dioxide electron
transport layer, which should reduce charge accumulation at each critical interface. Finally, we demonstrate that the use of thin
interface layers of semiconducting single-walled carbon nanotubes between the perovskite absorber layer and a prototypical hole
transport layer improves device efficiency and stability, and reduces hysteresis. Devices with carbon nanotubes (CNTs) embedded
in a polymer matrix can yield high efficiencies and improved stability. The CNT processing is compatible with scaling approaches
via spray coating and printing techniques.

B. Perovskites over silica

Perovskite solar cells hold an advantage over traditional silicon solar cells in the simplicity of their processing. Traditional silicon
cells require expensive, multistep processes, conducted at high temperatures (>1000 °C) in a high vacuum in special clean room
facilities. Meanwhile, the organic-inorganic perovskite material can be manufactured with simpler wet chemistry techniques in a
traditional lab environment. Perovskites perform well under low-light illumination , Certain perovskites are very good at
absorbing light, and have been shown to have a power conversion efficiency of 22 per cent, on par with traditional silicon cells.
Perovskite solar cell has its own special feature called semi-transparency so that it can allow some waves which cannot captured
visible spectrum of light to pass through it. This phenomenon finds use in tandem solar cell. Tandem solar cell consists of
perovskite layer on top of traditional silicon, waves passed through the perovskite solar cell is captured by silicon. With the use of
Tandem solar cell maximum utilization of waves is achieved. perovskite solar cells have the potential to change the economics of
solar power, as they are much cheaper to produce than silicon cells.[1]

III. METHODS

A. Flexible Perovskite Solar Cells via Inkjet Printing

Due to their remarkable optical and electronic properties, coupled with low-temperature solution process ability and
environmental abundance of precursor materials—hybrid organic-inorganic metal halide perovskites have garnered increased
attention as an attractive material for solar photovoltaics. These materials exhibit low internal losses and efficient carrier
transport, resulting in high solar power conversion efficiencies. However, to achieve large-scale deployment, emerging thin-film
technologies including perovskites must attain high efficiencies using high-throughput manufacturing techniques. Inkjet printing
of hybrid organic-inorganic perovskites (e.g., CH3NH3PbI3) offers a promising approach for low-cost, scalable manufacturing of
future thin-film solar cells.

Process

Inkjet printing is a non-contact printing technique where ink drops can be deposited on a substrate on demand and has been used
to cast the perovskite, ETL, HTL, and electrode layers by different Layers exhibited homogenous thickness, reproducibility, and
controllable size and shape layer area. In Ink-jet printing a mixed ink composed of carbon black and CH3NH3I
(methylammonium iodide, MAI) is utilized over the previously spin-coated PbI2 layer, they managed to achieve simultaneous
formation of the perovskite layer and the carbon electrode resulting in a solar cell with a PCE of 11.60% (0.1 cm2). This
simultaneous process reduced recombination effects at the interface between the perovskite layer and nano-carbon electrode
producing also I-V curves with small hysteresis. Mesostructured perovskite solar cell is manufactured using a mixture of MAI,
PbI2, and MACl with a molar ratio of 1-x:1:x (x = 0 ∼ 0.9) dissolved in γ- butyrolactone (35 wt.%). The latter has high boiling
point which prevented clogging of the print-head. Heating of the substrate during the printing process and the amount of
CH3NH3Cl used were found to be critical parameters affecting morphology of the perovskite (grain size and uniformity) and
consequently of device performance. The best PCE (12.3%) was achieved when heating the substrate at 50 °C and with a MACl
ratio of x = 0.6. deposited formamidium iodide (FAI) and MAI solutions dissolved in isopropanol (40 mg ml−1)) on spin-coated
PbI2 layers using a multi-head inkjet printer. The latter allowed the sequential or simultaneous deposition of the cation solutions.
The best PCE (11.1%) was obtained with a MAI:FAI ratio of 2:1. Ink jet printing has been extensively used in organic electronics
including the printing of silver grid electrodes in ITO-free polymer solar modules. Similar procedures can be applied to perovskite
solar modules in the future. Another printing method that has been used in the organic solar cell field and has been started to be
applied to the perovskite field is gravure printing. Micro-gravure printing were used by to produce highly oriented and large-area
perovskite nanowires (PNWs) which were used in photodetectors. Gravure printing can also be used to deposit transparent
electrodes made of Ag nanowires. The speed of both the micro-gravure printing roller and web was used to control the formation
of the perovskite thin film as well as its thickness. Flexographic printing techniques have been often used on polymer solar cell
fabrication to print the transparent electrodes. Investigations applying flexographic as well as gravure printing techniques to
perovskite solar cells are surely in the offing.

IV. DESIGN OF AN ENERGY EFFICIENT BUILDINGS

Despite the fact that the sun oriented power age satisfies the significant power utilization of a residential or industrial building it is
essential to change basic building configuration into a energy efficient building design. Building design for low energy
consumption is cost effective as well as it’s a small step to fight climate change. Energy-efficient homes have some basic elements
in common: a well constructed and tightly sealed thermal envelope; controlled ventilation; properly sized, high-efficiency heating
and cooling systems; energy-efficient doors, windows and utilization of maximum area to trap solar light.

A. Components of energy efficient Buildings

Wall and Roof Assemblies: Most builders use traditional wood frame construction. Wood framing is a “tried and true” construction
technique that uses a potentially renewable resource—wood— to provide a structurally sound, long-lasting
house. With proper construction and attention to details, the conventional wood-framed home can be very energy efficient.
It is now even possible to purchase a sustainably harvested wood

Optimum Value Engineering (OVE): This method uses wood only where it is most effective, thus reducing costly wood use and
saving space for insulation. The amount of lumber has been determined to be structurally sound through both laboratory and field
tests. However, the builder must be familiar with this type of construction to ensure a structurally sound house.

Structural Insulated Panels (SIPs): These sheets are generally made of plywood or oriented-strand board (OSB) that is laminated
to foam board. The foam may be 4 to 8 inches thick. Because the SIP acts as both the framing and the insulation, construction
is much faster than OVE or stick framing. The quality of construction is often superior because there are fewerplaces for workers
to make mistakes. Insulating Concrete Forms (ICF). Housesconstructed in this manner consist of twolayers of extruded foam
board (one inside the house and one outside the house) that act as the form for a steel-reinforced concrete center. It’s the fastest
technique and least likely to have construction mistakes. Such buildings are also very strong and easily exceed code requirements
for areas prone to tornadoes or hurricanes.

Insulation: An energy-efficient house has much higher insulation R-values than required by most local building codes. An R-
value is the ability of a material to resist heat transfer, and the lower the value, the faster the heat loss. For example, a typical
house in New York might have insulation of R-11 in the exterior walls and R-19 in the ceiling, while the floors and foundation
walls may not be insulated. A similar, but well designed and constructed house will have insulation levels that range from R-20 to
R-30 in the walls and from R-50 to R-70 in the ceilings. Carefully applied fiberglass batt or rolls, wet-spray cellulose, or foam
insulation will fill wall cavities completely. Foundation walls and slabs should be as well insulated as the living space walls.
Poorly insulated foundations have a negative impact on home energy use and comfort, especially if the family uses the lower parts
of the house as a living space. Also, appliances—such as domestic hot water heaters, washers, dryers, and freezers— that supply
heat as a byproduct are often located in the basement. By carefully insulating the foundation walls and floor of
the basement, these appliances can assist in heating the house. While most new houses have good insulation levels, it is often
poorly installed. In general, gaps and compaction of insulation reduce its effectiveness.

Air/Vapor Retarders: Water vapor condensation is a major threat to the structure of a house, no matter what the climate. In cold
climates, pressure differences can drive warm, moist indoor air into exterior walls and attics. The air condenses as it cools. The
same can be said for southern climates, just in reverse. As the humid outdoor air enters the walls and encounters cooler wall
cavities, it condenses into liquid water. This is the main reason why some buildings in the South have problems with mold and
rotten wood after they’re retrofitted with air conditioners. A vapor retarder is a material or structural element that can be used to
inhibit the movement of water vapor, while an air retarder can inhibit airflow, into and out of a house’s envelope. How to design
and install vapor retarders depends a great deal on the climate and on the chosen construction method. However, any water, vapor
that does manage to get into the walls or attics must be allowed to escape. Regardless of climate, water vapor migration should be
minimized by using a carefully designed thermal envelope and sound construction practices. Systems that control air and water
vapor movement in homes rely on the nearly airtight installation of sheet materials on the interior as the main barrier. The Airtight
Drywall Approach (ADA) uses the drywall already being installed along with gaskets and caulking to create a continuous air
retarder. In addition, seams where foundation, sill plate, floor joist header, and subfloor meet are also carefully sealed with
appropriate caulk or gasket material. Consult your local building codes official on the best vapor retarder method to use in your
area.

Windows: The typical home loses more than 25 percent of its heat through windows. Even modern windows insulate less than a
wall. Therefore, an energy-efficient house in a heating-dominated climate should, in general, have few windows on its northern,
eastern, and western sides. Total window area should also not exceed 8 to 9 percent of the floor area for those rooms, unless the
designer is experienced in passive solar techniques. If this is the case, then increasing window area on the southern side of the
house to about 12 percent of the floor area is recommended. This is often called solar tempering. A properly designed roof
overhang for south-facing windows will help prevent overheating in the summer. North, east, and west windows should have low
Solar Heat Gain Coefficients (SHGC). South windows with properly sized overhangs should have a high SHGC to allow winter
sun (and heat) to enter the house. The overhang blocks the high summer sun (and heat). If properly sized overhangs are
not possible, a low SHGC glass should be selected for the south windows. At the very least, you should use windows (and doors)
with an Energy Star® label, which are twice as energy efficient as those produced 10 years ago, according to regional, climatic
guidelines The best windows are awning and casement styles because these styles often close tighter than sliding types. This
house in Arizona features a passive solar design with overhangs above the south facing windows. and west windows should have
low Solar Heat Gain Coefficients (SHGC). South windows with properly sized overhangs should have a high SHGC to allow
winter sun (and heat) to enter the house. The overhang blocks the high summer sun (and heat). If properly sized overhangs are not
possible, a low SHGC glass should be selected for the south windows. At the very least, you should use windows (and doors) with
an Energy Star label, which are twice as energy efficient as those produced 10 years ago, according to
regional, climatic guidelines (note: houses with any kind of solar tempering have other guidelines). The best windows are
awning and casement styles because these often close tighter than sliding types. In all climates, window glass facing south
without overhangs can cause a problem on the cooling side that far exceeds the benefit from the winter solar gains.

Controlled Ventilation: Since an energy-efficient house is tightly sealed, it needs to be ventilated in a controlled manner.
Controlled, mechanical ventilation prevents health risks from indoor air pollution, promotes a more comfortable atmosphere, and
reduces air moisture infiltration, thus reducing the likelihood of structural damage. Furnaces, water heaters, clothes dryers, and
bathroom and kitchen exhaust fans expel air from the house, making it easier to depressurize an airtight house if all else is
ignored. But natural-draft appliances may be back-drafted by exhaust fans, which can lead to a lethal buildup of toxic gases in the
house. For this reason, sealed combustion heating appliances, which use only outside air for combustion and vent combustion
gases directly to the outdoors, are very important for ventilation energy efficiency and safety. Heat recovery ventilators (HRV) or
energy recovery ventilators (ERV) are growing in use for controlled ventilation in airtight homes. These ventilators can salvage
about 70 percent of the energy from the stale exhaust air and transfer that energy to the fresh air entering by way of a heat
exchanger inside the device. They can be attached to the central forced air system or may have their own duct system. Other
ventilation devices, such as through-the-wall or “trickle” vents, may be used in conjunction with an exhaust fan. They are,
however, more expensive to operate and possibly more uncomfortable to use because they have no energy recovery features to
precondition the incoming air. Uncomfortable incoming air can be a serious problem in northern climates and can create moisture
problems in humid climates. Therefore, this ventilation strategy is only for arid climates. Other systems pull outside air in with a
small outside duct on the return side of the furnace.

Heating and Cooling Systems: Specifying the correct sizes for heating and cooling systems in airtight, energy-efficient homes can
be tricky. Rule-of-thumb sizing is often inaccurate, resulting in wasteful operation. Conscientious builders and heating,
ventilation, and air-conditioning contractors size heating and cooling equipment based on careful consideration of the thermal
envelope characteristics. Generally, energy-efficient homes require relatively small heating systems, typically less than 50,000
Btu/hour even for very cold climates. Some require nothing more than sunshine as the primary source of heat along with auxiliary
heat from radiant in-floor heating, a standard gas-fired water heater, a small boiler, a furnace, or electric heat pump. Any common
appliance that gives off “waste” heat can also contribute significantly to the heating requirements for such houses. If an air
conditioner is required, it’s often a small unit and sufficient for all but the warmest climates. Sometimes only a large fan and the
cooler evening air are needed to make the house comfortable. The house is closed up in the morning and stays cool until the next
evening. Smaller-capacity heating and cooling systems are usually less expensive to buy and operate. This helps recover the costs
of purchasing more insulation, and other energy-efficient products, such as windows and appliances. Always look for the Energy
Guide label on heating and cooling equipment. The label will rate how efficient it is as compared to others available on the
market. In climates where summer cooling requirements dominate, light-colored materials and coatings (paint) on the exterior
siding and roof can help reduce cooling requirements by up to 15 percent. Carefully selected and placed vegetation in any climate
also contributes to reduced cooling and heating loads.
 V. CONCLUSION

Perovskites are crystalline materials that have great potential to replace silicon. When perovskite crystal is used in the production
of solar panel it enhances flexibility and transparency. Due to its semi transparency and tunable color property it can be used
widely in the exterior parts of building without affecting aesthetic sense of the building. Inkjet printing of solar panel makes panel
ultra thin which is even thinner than hair and thereby reduces weight with low cost. This technique allows customization of the
shape, color and size of the module depending on particular needs and installs them wherever there is a free area on the building.
This means not being limited to the roof, static isolation angles, and climatic change which dramatically increases the ability to
harness energy from sun this technique has an ability to generate electricity even when illuminated by weak light sources. It
allows the operation in cloudy conditions, low incident angles, and in artificial light. It provides a more reliable power production
and allows implementation in areas where traditional solar cells are not viable. The stability and water resistance of the modules
makes them ideal for the construction industry.

VI. REFERENCES

[1] R. J. D. Tilley, “Perovskites: Structure-Property Relationships,” March 2016.