Japan will try to break the Chinese monopoly on solar panels using perovskite (3 photos)

Japan and the whole world lost to China in the marketsilicon solar panels. According to the International Energy Agency, Chinese companies control more than 80% of the global silicon solar panel supply chain and even more of the polycrystalline silicon for such panels. The situation can only be turned around with the help of new solutions, which should be thin-film perovskite solar panels.

“We won in technology, but lost inbusiness,” said Hiroo Inoue, director general of the Japan Natural Resources and Energy Agency, adding that Japanese firms have suffered a similar fate in the liquid crystal display and semiconductor industries. But in Japan they continue to believe that the engineering and scientific personnel in the country are still qualitatively ahead of China.

Mass production of thin film perovskitessolar panels could be the lever that will overturn China's dominance in the solar cell market. At the very least, the Japanese authorities are sparing no expense to push domestic companies towards mass production of perovskite elements. For example, over $400 million has recently been allocated for these purposes, and the authorities will not limit themselves to this. In the United States, budget funds are also allocated for the development of perovskite solar cells.

Perovskite solar cells have begun their ascentless than ten years ago. Today, mass-produced silicon solar cells have an efficiency of no more than 22%. Experimental perovskite cells, which are being prepared for mass production, are ready to start with an efficiency of 25%. Added to this is the much less energy-intensive production of perovskite panels, which does not require firing like silicon wafers. Perovskite can also be applied from the liquid phase to films, which will make it possible to cover almost any surface with photopanels. They feel like photographic film, only much wider, say the developers. The thickness of the perovskite layer is only 1 micron. Silicon is 20 times thicker and heavier. This is the last century, they say in Japan.

One of the first mass production of photo panels fromSekisui Chemical intends to start perovskite production in Japan. It will produce perovskite panels in rolls 30 cm wide. Construction of the factory has already begun. Production is expected to begin in 2025. Such panels can also be used indoors, collecting energy from light wherever possible. Ordinary solar panels made of silicon could not even dream of this. There is so much space for flexible panels that this niche will not be filled soon.

An important point in the production of perovskite panelswill become independent from supplies of raw materials from China. For Japan and other advanced countries, this is one of the most painful places. “Look what China is doing with semiconductors. "It's a mockery," says scientist Tsutomo Miyasaka, one of the country's leading experts on perovskites, referring to Beijing's export restrictions on the rare earth elements gallium and germanium used in chips. “Perovskite components can be manufactured domestically.”

In particular, for the production of perovskite photocellsrequires a lot of iodine. Japan is one of the world's largest suppliers of this element. A third of the iodine on the world market is produced in Japan. Only Chile supplies more iodine. Japan may not be afraid of dependence on China in the event of mass production of perovskite cells.

Almost everything is fine.But a significant disadvantage of perovskite solar cells remains their high sensitivity to moisture from the surrounding air. This quickly ruins potentially good panels. They need to be protected from this, and Japanese scientists have created a promising sealant that prevents the panels from turning into slime. Sekisui Chemical's panels can last as long as 10 years and remain efficient throughout that time. The vaunted longevity of silicon solar panels, by the way, turned out to be far from the declared 25 years. They also begin to degrade quickly after 10 years of use.

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida promisedmake perovskite solar panel technology commercially viable within two years. Japan has imported about 90% of its energy and commodities since shutting most of its nuclear plants following the 2011 Fukushima nuclear disaster. Kishida's goal is ambitious, but Japanese engineers and officials are optimistic, citing recent technological advances.

“The more complex it [production technology] is,the harder it will be for the Chinese to copy it,” said Miyasaka, a professor at Toin University in Yokohama and a former employee of Fujifilm’s solar technology lab.