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Engineers at the University of Queensland have developed lead-free perovskite solar cells that could power electronics indoors using ambient light.
With higher efficiency than silicon-based technology, perovskite cells can operate indoors under low-intensity artificial light such as LEDs and fluorescent lamps. However, the manufacture of most perovskite cells involves the use of toxic chemicals such as lead, along with other hazardous chemicals. 
“Halide perovskites are an emerging technology that could replace silicon, offering much higher efficiencies and commercial potential,” said Dr Miaoqiang Lyu, an ARC Future Fellow at UQ’s School of Chemical Engineering. “However, most still rely on lead-based hazardous materials.
To overcome this, the UQ team developed a vapour-based manufacturing process for fabricating lead-free perovskite material, producing cells with fewer defects than their toxic counterparts. The non-toxic perovskite cells achieved an efficiency of 16.36 per cent. According to the researchers, this is the highest reported efficiency for a lead-free cell manufactured with an industrially scalable evaporation method. The work is published in ACS Energy Letters.
“This material has very attractive properties that can absorb indoor light and convert very weak indoor light efficiently into electricity,” said Dr Lyu. “By removing those solvents entirely, the process is much better suited to scalable manufacturing.”
Panels made using the UQ team’s process are said to be thin and scalable. The perovskite cells can be integrated on flexible plastic and in different shapes, making them easy to embed into a wide range of products. 
Lead-free perovskites are also increasingly viewed as an alternative to coin-cell and button batteries for low-power electronics like environmental sensors, wearables, and health monitoring devices. According to the researchers, digital shelf labels for supermarkets are a potential early application.
“With suitable voltage management, these devices can replace coin‑cell batteries, reducing the number of small batteries that end up as waste or in children’s toys,” said Dr Lyu.
“People will probably see perovskite indoor panels and integrated consumer electronics in the market in the next few years.” 
 
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