GoKawiilGroningen researchers slow hot-electron cooling 1,000x in tin perovskite solar cells
Researchers at the University of Groningen, led by Maria Antonietta Loi with Koster and PhD student Tim Faber, found that tin-based perovskite solar cells keep 'hot electrons' energetic for nanoseconds instead of picoseconds, a thousandfold slowdown in heat loss. Computer simulations of the material's quantum behavior matched the lab results and revealed a double-action mechanism behind the effect, linked to the material's unusually low electron mass.
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Hot electrons normally waste their excess energy as heat before it can be captured, which is a key reason conventional silicon solar cells cap out near the Shockley-Queisser limit of about 33% efficiency. If this delayed cooling can eventually be harnessed to extract that extra energy as electricity, it suggests a path toward solar cells that exceed today's theoretical ceiling, though the researchers themselves say many open questions remain before that becomes practical.
- Tin-based perovskite solar cells slowed hot-electron heat loss by a factor of 1,000 in lab tests.
- Simulations by Koster and Faber identified a double-action mechanism explaining the effect, tied to low electron mass.
- Researchers say the finding could, in theory, enable solar cells surpassing the 33% efficiency limit, but caution unresolved questions remain.
Source: hardware.slashdot.org — Posted, 2026-09-27
Published there as: “New Tin-based Solar Cells Trap Heat 1,000 Times Longer, Could Beat 33% Limit”
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