经过40年的探索，科学家发现了太阳能电池板效率的一个关键缺陷

Solar panels are fantastic pieces of technology, but we need to work out how to make them even more efficient – and last year, scientists solved a 40-year-old mystery around one of the key obstacles to increased efficiency.

太阳能电池板是一项了不起的技术，但我们需要研究出如何让它们更有效率——去年，科学家们解开了一个40年之久的谜团，它是提高效率的关键障碍之一。

The 2019 study outlined a material defect in silicon used to produce solar cells that has previously gone undetected. It could be responsible for the 2 percent efficiency drop that solar cells can see in the first hours of use: Light Induced Degradation (LID).

2019年的研究概述了用于生产太阳能电池的硅材料的一个缺陷，而这一缺陷此前一直未被发现。这可能是太阳能电池在使用的最初几个小时内效率下降2%的原因:光引起的降解(LID)。

Multiplied by the increasing number of panels installed at solar farms around the world, that drop equals a significant cost in gigawatts that non-renewable energy sources have to make up for.

再乘以世界各地太阳能发电厂安装的太阳能电池板数量的增加，这一下降相当于不可再生能源必须弥补的数十亿瓦的巨大成本。

In fact, the estimated loss in efficiency worldwide from LID is estimated to equate to more energy than can be generated by the UK's 15 nuclear power plants. The new discovery could help scientists make up some of that shortfall.

事实上，据估计，LID在全球范围内造成的效率损失相当于英国15座核电站的发电量。这项新发现可以帮助科学家弥补部分不足。

Because of the environmental and financial impact solar panel 'efficiency degradation' has been the topic of much scientific and engineering interest in the last four decades, said one of the researchers, Tony Peaker from the University of Manchester in the UK, back in June 2019.

其中一名研究人员、英国曼彻斯特大学的托尼•皮克(Tony Peaker)在2019年6月表示:“由于环境和财政影响，太阳能电池板的‘效率下降’在过去40年里一直是科学和工程领域的热门话题。”

However, despite some of the best minds in the business working on it, the problem has steadfastly resisted resolution until now.

“然而，尽管业内一些最优秀的人才在致力于解决这个问题，但直到现在，这个问题一直未能得到解决。”

To find what 270 research papers across four decades had previously been unable to determine, the latest study used an electrical and optical technique called deep-level transient spectroscopy (DLTS) to find weaknesses in the silicon.

为了找到过去40年里270篇研究论文无法确定的东西，最新的研究使用了一种被称为深能级瞬变光谱(deep-level transient, DLTS)的光电技术来发现硅的弱点。

Here's what the DLTS analysis found: As the electronic charge in the solar cells gets transformed from sunlight, the flow of electrons gets trapped; in turn, that reduces the level of electrical power that can be produced.

DLTS分析发现:当太阳能电池中的电荷从阳光中转换时，电子流被捕获;反过来，又降低了可生产的电力水平。

This defect lies dormant until the solar panel gets heated, the team found.

研究小组发现，这个缺陷在太阳能板加热之前一直处于休眠状态。

We've proved the defect exists, it's now an engineering fix that is needed, said one of the researchers, Iain Crowe from the University of Manchester.

“我们已经证明了缺陷的存在，现在需要的是一个工程上的修正。”来自曼彻斯特大学的研究人员伊恩·克罗(Iain Crowe)说。

The researchers also found that higher quality silicon had charge carriers (electrons which carry the photon energy) with a longer 'lifetime', which backs up the idea that these traps are linked to the efficiency degradation.

研究人员还发现，高质量的硅有更长“寿命”的载流子(携带光子能量的电子)，这支持了这些陷阱与效率降低有关的观点。

What's more, heating the material in the dark, a process often used to remove traps from silicon, seems to reverse the degradation.

更重要的是，在黑暗中加热材料，这一过程通常用来清除硅的陷阱，似乎可以逆转降解。

The work to push solar panel efficiency rates higher continues, with breakthroughs continuing to happen in the lab, and nature offering up plenty of efficiency tips as well. Now that the Light Induced Degradation mystery has been solved, solar farms across the globe should benefit.

提高太阳能电池板效率的工作仍在继续，实验室的突破仍在继续，《自然》杂志也提供了许多提高效率的建议。既然光引起的退化之谜已经被解决了，全球的太阳能发电厂都应该从中受益。

An absolute drop of 2 percent in efficiency may not seem like a big deal, but when you consider that these solar panels are now responsible for delivering a large and exponentially growing fraction of the world's total energy needs, it's a significant loss of electricity generating capacity, said Peaker.

他说:“百分之二的绝对效率下降可能看起来不是什么大问题，但是当你考虑到这些太阳能电池板现在负责提供世界总能源需求的一个巨大和指数增长的部分，则是发电能力的重大损失。”

The research has been published in the Journal of Applied Physics.

这项研究发表在《应用物理学杂志》上。