UNSW scientists discover a stable light-splitting material that could push solar efficiency far beyond silicon’s limits.
In a breakthrough that could reshape solar power, scientists at UNSW Sydney have shown how to extract twice the energy from a single particle of light.Their discovery could help solar panels break past the long-standing efficiency limits of silicon technology.
Most solar panels today rely on silicon, a proven and affordable material. But silicon has a natural ceiling, converting only about 27 percent of sunlight into electricity.The theoretical limit stands at 29.4 percent. A large part of the sun’s energy is lost as heat.The UNSW team, known as Omega Silicon, aims to change that through a process called singlet fission. It allows one photon to split into two packets of energy, effectively doubling the output.“A lot of the energy from light in a solar cell is wasted as heat—which itself is also a form of energy,” said Dr. Ben Carwithen, a postdoctoral researcher at UNSW’s School of Chemistry.“We’re finding ways to take that wasted energy and turn it into more electricity instead.”Previous experiments with a material called tetracene had shown promise but failed outside the lab because it degraded in air and moisture.The UNSW team found that a compound called DPND, or dipyrrolonaphthyridinedione, performs the same job while staying stable in outdoor conditions.“We’ve shown that you can interface silicon with this stable material, which undergoes singlet fission, and then injects extra electrical charge,” Dr. Carwithen said. “It’s still an early step, but it’s the first demonstration that this can actually work in a realistic system.”Building on a decade of researchThe work builds on more than a decade of research led by Professor Tim Schmidt, head of UNSW’s School of Chemistry.His team was the first to use magnetic fields to trace how singlet fission unfolds at the molecular level.“Our previous study addressed the route of this process,” Prof. Schmidt said. “We used magnetic fields to manipulate the emitted light and reveal how singlet fission occurs. This hadn’t been done before.”Understanding that process helped the researchers design better materials and layer structures.“Blue light has more energy, but most of that gets lost as heat in a normal solar cell,” Prof. Schmidt explained. “With singlet fission, that excess energy can be turned into usable electricity instead.”Associate Professor Murad Tayebjee, who supervised the study, described it as “a big step forward” for solar technology. “It is the first demonstration of singlet fission on silicon using a relatively stable organic molecule based on industrial pigments,” he said.From lab to large-scale useThe approach works by adding an ultra-thin organic layer to a conventional silicon cell. “In principle, it’s just painting an extra layer on top of the existing architecture,” Dr. Carwithen said. “We need to find a way of making it work, but there’s no reason why it can’t.”If scaled successfully, the technique could raise solar efficiency from the current 27 percent to as high as 45 percent.“Pushing towards 30 percent would already be fantastic,” Dr. Carwithen said. “But there’s a higher ceiling we can hopefully reach.”The project is supported by the Australian Renewable Energy Agency’s Ultra Low Cost Solar program, which targets panels with more than 30 percent efficiency at under 30 cents per watt by 2030.Seven major solar companies are already monitoring the UNSW team’s progress.“We have industry partners waiting in the wings,” Dr. Carwithen said. “They’re ready to help commercialize this if we can show it works in the lab.”A small-scale proof of concept could arrive within a few years. “There could be a big breakthrough next week and everything clicks,” he said. “But a more realistic timeline is five years.”The study is published in the journal ACS Energy Letters.
Photovoltaic Renewable Energy Silicon Solar Cells Singlet Fission Solar Energy
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