{"id":23038,"date":"2018-07-25T07:50:11","date_gmt":"2018-07-24T21:20:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/?p=23038"},"modified":"2024-10-03T10:03:24","modified_gmt":"2024-10-03T00:33:24","slug":"unsw-czts-solar-cell-mb0681","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/unsw-czts-solar-cell-mb0681\/","title":{"rendered":"UNSW Researchers Break CZTS Solar Cell Efficiency Record"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-23039\" src=\"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/czts-solar-unsw.jpg\" alt=\"CZTS solar cell\" width=\"700\" height=\"454\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/czts-solar-unsw.jpg 700w, https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/czts-solar-unsw-300x195.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 700px) 100vw, 700px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>While CZTS solar cell technology may still not be ready for prime time, it&#8217;s getting closer thanks to the efforts of UNSW Sydney researchers.<!--more--><\/p>\n<p>CZTS stands for copper zinc tin sulfide, all elements that are abundant in the earth\u2019s crust. The material, also known as sulfide kesterite, was first created back in the 1960&#8217;s, but it wasn&#8217;t until 1988 when it was shown to demonstrate the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/panels\/photovoltaic\/effect\/\">photovoltaic effect<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>CZTS was seen a potential alternative to CIGS (copper indium gallium selenide) for commercial solar cells as it doesn&#8217;t require the use of rare earth elements. Indium, which makes up just 0.21 parts per million of the Earth&#8217;s crust, is expensive stuff. The average indium price for 2000 was USD $188 per kilogram. In March this year, it was <span id=\"article_daArticle\">$330-360 per kg<\/span>.<\/p>\n<p>Progress with CZTS has been slow &#8211; it wasn&#8217;t until 1997 that a CZTS solar cell with a conversion efficiency of just 2.3% was developed. 20 years later and efficiencies were still around 9% for a cell that didn&#8217;t also contain selenium.<\/p>\n<p>That&#8217;s just changed &#8211; a UNSW research team lead by Scientia Fellow Dr Xiaojing (Jeana) Hao have broken the 10 per cent energy conversion efficiency barrier for\u00a0sulfide kesterite and a kesterite solar cell, without the use of selenium. The achievement marks the fourth consecutive CTZS-related efficiency record set by the group in two years.<\/p>\n<p>Among the other advantages of CZTS solar cells is manufacturing processes for CIGS can be easily adapted and as a thin-film, can be applied to flexible surfaces.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>\u201cThe flexible PV cells are lightweight, extending their potential use for building integration and on other uneven surfaces such as cars or unmanned air vehicles (UAVs),&#8221; said Dr Hao.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>It&#8217;s clear from listening to Dr. Hao that she is passionate about developing the technology.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>\u201cWith CZTS, there are still so many things that we don&#8217;t know. Unravelling these unknowns is the most exciting adventure.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>The UNSW team&#8217;s results have been published in the journal Nature Energy<\/p>\n<p>Dr Hao is also working on an Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) funded project targeting an efficiency of beyond 20% for CZTS solar cells containing selenium (CZTSSe). It&#8217;s an ambitious goal as the conversion efficiency of CZTSSe has been stagnant at 12.6% for years.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>&#8220;One of the key outcomes targeted for the project is to make this low-cost, low-toxic and stable kesterite (CZTSSe) efficient enough for distributed PV market use (such as for BIPV, automotive and portable power sources),&#8221; states the <a href=\"https:\/\/arena.gov.au\/projects\/development-of-kesterite-cztsse-solar-cells\/\">ARENA project page<\/a>.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>ARENA has contributed $1.33m to the $4.56m project.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>While CZTS solar cell technology may still not be ready for prime time, it&#8217;s getting closer thanks to the efforts of UNSW Sydney researchers.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":17,"featured_media":23039,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[678],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-23038","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-solar-battery-news","entry"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v27.8 (Yoast SEO v27.8) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>UNSW Researchers Break CZTS Solar Cell Efficiency Record<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"While CZTS solar cell technology may still not be ready for prime time, it&#039;s getting closer thanks to the efforts of UNSW Sydney researchers.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/unsw-czts-solar-cell-mb0681\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"UNSW Researchers Break CZTS Solar Cell Efficiency Record\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"While CZTS solar cell technology may still not be ready for prime time, it&#039;s getting closer thanks to the efforts of UNSW Sydney researchers.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/unsw-czts-solar-cell-mb0681\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"SolarQuotes Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/SolarQuotes\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2018-07-24T21:20:11+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2024-10-03T00:33:24+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/czts-solar-unsw.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"700\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"454\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Michael Bloch\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@solar_quotes\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@solar_quotes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.solarquotes.com.au\\\/blog\\\/unsw-czts-solar-cell-mb0681\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.solarquotes.com.au\\\/blog\\\/unsw-czts-solar-cell-mb0681\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Michael Bloch\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.solarquotes.com.au\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/66afd571aa00c2e442f0192ebac2f6f1\"},\"headline\":\"UNSW Researchers Break CZTS Solar Cell Efficiency Record\",\"datePublished\":\"2018-07-24T21:20:11+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2024-10-03T00:33:24+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.solarquotes.com.au\\\/blog\\\/unsw-czts-solar-cell-mb0681\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":431,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.solarquotes.com.au\\\/blog\\\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.solarquotes.com.au\\\/blog\\\/unsw-czts-solar-cell-mb0681\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.solarquotes.com.au\\\/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2018\\\/07\\\/czts-solar-unsw.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"General Solar &amp; 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After weeks of wading through government reversals on solar feed-in tariffs, reporting on the various sniping at the edges of the solar industry and talking about savage cuts from state and federal governments affecting\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Solar Panels&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Solar Panels","link":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/category\/solar-panels-2\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/07\/solarpanel-300x201.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":93422,"url":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/tindo-unsw-topcon-mb3233\/","url_meta":{"origin":23038,"position":2},"title":"Tindo Teams Up With UNSW On TOPCon Solar Tech","author":"Michael Bloch","date":"July 25, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"Australia's only solar panel manufacturer, Tindo, is to explore TOPCon solar cell technology in partnership with the University of New South Wales (UNSW) \u2014 where TOPCon was originally developed many years ago. What Is TOPCon? TOPCon stands for Tunnel Oxide Passivated Contact. It's an advanced solar cell design enhancing efficiency\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;General Solar &amp; Storage News&quot;","block_context":{"text":"General Solar &amp; Storage News","link":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/category\/solar-battery-news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Tindo TOPCOn solar cell research","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/tindo-unsw-topcon.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/tindo-unsw-topcon.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/tindo-unsw-topcon.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/tindo-unsw-topcon.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/tindo-unsw-topcon.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":10545,"url":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/solar-cubesats-australia-mb0002\/","url_meta":{"origin":23038,"position":3},"title":"Australian-Built Solar Powered Nanosatellites Launched","author":"Michael Bloch","date":"April 19, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Early this morning Australian time, the first Aussie-built satellites to be launched for 15 years left terra firma from Cape Canaveral in Florida. One of the tiny nanosatellites, or CubeSats, was built at University of Adelaide and is being delivered along with two other locally-made devices by NASA on an\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;General Solar &amp; Storage News&quot;","block_context":{"text":"General Solar &amp; Storage News","link":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/category\/solar-battery-news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"University of Adelaide solar powered CubeSat","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/adelaide-cubesat-solar.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/adelaide-cubesat-solar.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/adelaide-cubesat-solar.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":22168,"url":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/amal-solar-ac-mb0620\/","url_meta":{"origin":23038,"position":4},"title":"Solar Fuels Researcher On Queen&#8217;s Birthday Honours List","author":"Michael Bloch","date":"June 11, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"University of New South Wales chemical engineer Scientia Professor Rose Amal has been awarded companion of the order of Australia (AC), for her eminent service to chemical engineering. 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How Much Funding Did SunDrive Receive And What's It For? Provided under ARENA's Advancing Renewables Program, SunDrive has been issued a $25.3\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Solar Innovations&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Solar Innovations","link":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/category\/solar-innovations\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"An Australian-made SunDrive solar cell.","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/sundrive-arena-funding.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/sundrive-arena-funding.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/sundrive-arena-funding.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/sundrive-arena-funding.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/sundrive-arena-funding.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x"},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23038","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/17"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=23038"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23038\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":87316,"href":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23038\/revisions\/87316"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/23039"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=23038"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=23038"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=23038"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}