Perovskite crystals may represent the future of solar power
Their efficiency rates far exceed those of conventional silicon panels
IT is commonly claimed, and also true, that enough sunlight falls on Earth in the course of an hour to meet a year’s worth of global power needs. Some of that sunlight is currently converted into electricity by arrays of solar panels: by the end of 2023, these panels covered almost 10,000 square kilometres of Earth’s surface, producing some 1,600 terawatt-hours of electricity, about 6% of that generated worldwide.
This article appeared in the Science & technology section of the print edition under the headline “Sunny side up”
From the October 26th 2024 edition
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