Building In Zero Energy

Australia just set a world efficiency record using flexible copper zinc thin-film solar cells.

‘Zero-energy’ buildings that generate as much power as they consume have become a practical option after a University NSW team demonstrated the world’s highest efficiency solar cells.

The promise of ‘zero-energy’ buildings has been held back by two hurdles: the cost of the thin-film solar cells (used in façades, roofs and windows), and the fact they’re made from scarce, and highly toxic, materials.

That’s about to change. The UNSW team, led by Dr Xiaojing Hao of the Australian Centre for Advanced Photovoltaics at the UNSW School of Photovoltaic and Renewable Energy Engineering, achieved the record using a competing non toxic, thin-film technology, known as ‘copper zinc tin sulfide’ or CZTS for short.

NREL, the USA’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory, confirmed this world leading 7.6% efficiency in a 1cm2 area CZTS cell this month. Unlike its thin-film competitors, CZTS cells are made from abundant materials: copper, zinc, tin and sulphur.

“This is the first step on CZTS’s road to beyond 20% efficiency, and marks a milestone in its journey from the lab to commercial product,” said Hao, named one of UNSW’s 20 rising stars last year.

Full story: http://newsroom.unsw.edu.au/news/science-tech/unsw-takes-lead-race-non-toxic-thin-film-solar-cells