Solar Panel Revolution, Perovskites.

Reading Time: 3 minutes

Olga Malinkiewicz is the person responsible for the recent renaissance of perovskites. This was due to her discovery in 2013 when she detected the new way of applying the perovskites not only on the glass surfaces and that attracted international attention to her discoveries. Today together with her team, she is disrupting the energy sector. The recently opened factory is a sign to the competitors that the change is coming fast.

https://uploads-ssl.webflow.com/5ee157a906d3a8583f80f996/60ccdba4cf10877cb9b6c0e2_pexels-pixabay-356036.jpg

Beginnings

Perovskites are the minerals discovered by the Russian scientist Gustav Rose in 1839. They are among the most common crystal structures found on the planet. They are responsible for 38% of the planet’s mass. Their presence has also been proved in the structure of other planets. 

Perovskites’s have been identified with semiconductor capabilities, and in comparison with silicons, they are characterized with exponentially higher defect tolerance. The fact of adaptability and efficiency is also recognizing their potential.

Development 

The technology is currently under intensive investigation aiming to make real-life solutions more reliable and ecological using perovskites. In 2013 in one of such research centers in Spain, Olga Malinkiewicz invented « a revolutionary method to produce solar cells by coating perovskites on flexible foils. This achievement earns her multiple awards and garners international media attention » Before Olga’s discovery, perovskites were only available for use on the glass, and her discovery increased the possibility to apply powerful minerals on a wider scale. This event is the moment when Saule Technologies is born. A year later she forms a team with Piotr Krych and Artur Kupczunas. Just a year later, prominent Japanese investor Hideo Sawada put his money into the project. 

The company is getting traction, and the eyes of the publicity are pointed to the team. The series of partnerships shown what perovskites on flexible foils are capable of.

  1. In-house electronic charger
  2. A4 size module is created for the Skanska park in Warsaw
  3. The solar carport 
  4. Partnership with Columbus (solar panels distributor)

The fact that Malinkiewicz decided to use the flexible foils made her dicsovery a perfect way to scale the perovskites’ capabilities. An example of a solution possible thanks to the chosen approach is creating a T-shirt that produces the energy and makes it possible to charge the phone just by exposing yourself to the light. The flexible foil of perovskites is implemented in the fabric of the clothes. Similarly, many solutions can be powered by panels thanks using the flexible foil. 

The price also plays in favor of perovskite-driven solutions as the solar cells could be just printed in the 3d printing machine and don’t have to be manufactured in complicated processes.

The great advantage that perovskite-based solar panels have over regular solar panels is their lower sensitivity to the change of angles of the absorbed light. Unlike the already known solutions, Saule Technologies identified that panels using their perovskite technology significantly lower side effects when angles of absorbed light change. Moreover, the panels maintain the same efficiency when absorbing both the sunlight and the light from artificial sources.

What is missing for the technology is the way to make the panels less degradable. The battery in an average phone is degradable after 50 years, and the perovskite technology charging the phone would become degradable after a couple of months.

Nonetheless, among the already established use cases, there are solar sunblinds, photovoltaic glass, bus stations, car parks, price tags. What is very promising about the technology is its scalability and palette of potential applications. 

Future

Saule Tech. has a great journey ahead and is now in a crucial phase where the competition is trying to take over its leading place. Mrs. Olga indicates that it is not time to relax but to increase the speed of development. Crucial decisions about the place of building the next factory are about to happen. The team underlines that the place will be chosen based on the needs of local economies. Mr. Hideo Sawada announced the willingness to create the next factories in Japan, where the government expressed interest in supporting Saule’s venture. These facts show the management board’s geopolitical awareness and pragmatic thinking.

Leave a Reply

WordPress › Error

There has been a critical error on this website.

Learn more about debugging in WordPress.