Internet of things (IoT) is a booming technology, and its autonomous powering is key to allow this technological transition. Present powering approaches, mostly based on batteries, are neither energetically convenient, nor reliable and efficient: the continuous check of their charge level and “healt” hampers the adoption and expansion of IoT. “Self-powering” would be possible through indoor photovoltaics (IPV), combined with energy storage, for those devices operating h24, including in dark conditions. IPV is less developed than its outdoor counterpart (OPV) and new efficient, ecofriendly, cheap, and easy to fabricate materials are sought after. They must be free of toxic elements as one expects billions of powerpack for IoT operating in the future, which must be disposed at the end of their life without complex and expensive treatments. Traditional materials, like silicon, are not optimal for IPV as their performance in high photon energy/low intensity IPV conditions are relatively poor. Novel materials, like lead-halide perovskites, contain toxic elements, which make them risky. In the PINPOINT project, we propose to use perovskite-inspired materials (PIM) that are safe, easy to fabricate, potentially made of non-critical elements for powering IoT devices. We consider Cs2AgBiBr3, BiOI and Cs3Sb2I9-xClx, which have been already investigated for OPV. Cs2AgBiBr3, containing the critical Ag element, is here considered mainly as a reference material, being the most studied PIM in OPV. All these materials have an indoor spectroscopic limited maximum efficiency (i-SLME) of 40-50%, i.e., they can potentially convert about half of the photons illuminating PV cells into electric current. Despite their potential, present efficiencies of these PIMs in both OPV and IPV conditions is 2-5%, leaving room for a significant improvement should the reasons for poor performance be identified. In the PINPOINT project, we will use a tight coupled experimental/theoretical, interdisciplinary (physics, chemistry, engineering) approach i) to identify the bottlenecks limiting the efficiency of the selected PIM materials, ii) to identify their structural characteristics (defects, gran boundaries, interfaces, etc) determining these bottlenecks, iii) to identify and improve the depositions strategies and parameters to push the PCE of PIM-based IPV toward their i-SLME. In pursuing its immediate objectives, the PINPOINT projects will contribute to identify novel principles to develop defect-tolerant wide bandgap materials beyond antibonding top of the valence band orbital criterion, discovered through metal-halide perovskites. In PINPOINT, we plan actions directed to the dissemination of scientific results and consolidation of the multidisciplinary community at the core of the project as well as communication campaigns to engage the civil society and the local communities of three partner institutions, to make them sensible to energy-related themes
PINPOINT - Perovskite-Inspired materials-based iNdoor PhotovOltaics for powering the Internet of Things.
Simone Meloni
2023
Abstract
Internet of things (IoT) is a booming technology, and its autonomous powering is key to allow this technological transition. Present powering approaches, mostly based on batteries, are neither energetically convenient, nor reliable and efficient: the continuous check of their charge level and “healt” hampers the adoption and expansion of IoT. “Self-powering” would be possible through indoor photovoltaics (IPV), combined with energy storage, for those devices operating h24, including in dark conditions. IPV is less developed than its outdoor counterpart (OPV) and new efficient, ecofriendly, cheap, and easy to fabricate materials are sought after. They must be free of toxic elements as one expects billions of powerpack for IoT operating in the future, which must be disposed at the end of their life without complex and expensive treatments. Traditional materials, like silicon, are not optimal for IPV as their performance in high photon energy/low intensity IPV conditions are relatively poor. Novel materials, like lead-halide perovskites, contain toxic elements, which make them risky. In the PINPOINT project, we propose to use perovskite-inspired materials (PIM) that are safe, easy to fabricate, potentially made of non-critical elements for powering IoT devices. We consider Cs2AgBiBr3, BiOI and Cs3Sb2I9-xClx, which have been already investigated for OPV. Cs2AgBiBr3, containing the critical Ag element, is here considered mainly as a reference material, being the most studied PIM in OPV. All these materials have an indoor spectroscopic limited maximum efficiency (i-SLME) of 40-50%, i.e., they can potentially convert about half of the photons illuminating PV cells into electric current. Despite their potential, present efficiencies of these PIMs in both OPV and IPV conditions is 2-5%, leaving room for a significant improvement should the reasons for poor performance be identified. In the PINPOINT project, we will use a tight coupled experimental/theoretical, interdisciplinary (physics, chemistry, engineering) approach i) to identify the bottlenecks limiting the efficiency of the selected PIM materials, ii) to identify their structural characteristics (defects, gran boundaries, interfaces, etc) determining these bottlenecks, iii) to identify and improve the depositions strategies and parameters to push the PCE of PIM-based IPV toward their i-SLME. In pursuing its immediate objectives, the PINPOINT projects will contribute to identify novel principles to develop defect-tolerant wide bandgap materials beyond antibonding top of the valence band orbital criterion, discovered through metal-halide perovskites. In PINPOINT, we plan actions directed to the dissemination of scientific results and consolidation of the multidisciplinary community at the core of the project as well as communication campaigns to engage the civil society and the local communities of three partner institutions, to make them sensible to energy-related themesI documenti in SFERA sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.
