Inverted perovskite solar cells (IPSCs) have attracted great attention in recent years due to reliable operational stability, negligible hysteresis and low-temperature fabrication process. To accelerate its commercialization, the focus of...

No abstract

We report the realization of high performance silicon nanowire (SiNW) based solar cells with a conversion efficiency of 17.11% and a large size of 125 × 125 mm(2). The key factor for success lies in an efficient approach of dielectric passivation to greatly enhance the electrical properties while keeping the advantage of excellent light trapping of the SiNW structure. The suppression of carrier recombination has been demonstrated through the combination of the SiO2/SiNx stack, which exhibits a good passivation effect on heavily doped SiNWs via reducing both the Shockley-Read-Hall recombination and near surface Auger recombination. We have examined in detail the effects of different passivations and SiNW lengths on the effective minority carrier lifetime, reflectance and carrier recombination characteristics, as well as cell performance. The proposed passivation techniques can be easily adapted to conventional industrial manufacturing processes, providing a potential prospect of SiNW based solar cells in mass production.

Instability of rear electrodes undermines the long-term operational durability of efficient perovskite solar cells (PSCs). Here, a composite electrode of copper-nickel (Cu-Ni) alloy stabilized by in situ grown bifacial graphene is designed. The alloying makes the work function of Cu suitable for regular PSCs and Cu-Ni is the ideal substrate for preparing high-quality graphene via chemical vapor deposition, which simultaneously protects the device from oxygen, water and internal components reaction. To rivet the composite electrode with semi-device, a thermoplastic copolymer is employed as an adhesive layer during hot pressing. The resultant device achieved power conversion efficiency of 24.34% with significantly improved stability; the devices without encapsulation retained 97% of their initial efficiency after the damp heat test at 85 o C with relative humidity of 85% for 1440 hours and the encapsulated devices maintained 95% of their initial efficiencies after maximum power point tracking under continuous 1 sun illumination for 5000 hours.Metal halide perovskite solar cells (PSCs) have attracted great attention in both academia and industry owing to their excellent optoelectronic performance and low manufacturing costs 1-6 . However, for PSCs to realize commercialization, they must survive the long-term natural erosion imposed by oxygen, moisture, light and heat 7,8 . Thanks to the optimization of the perovskite materials, charge transport materials and the interface layers 9-12 , the

Tin halide perovskites are promising candidates for preparing efficient leadfree perovskite solar cells due to their ideal band gap and high charge-carrier mobility. However, the notorious rapid crystallization process results in the inferior power conversion efficiency (PCE) of tin perovskite solar cells (TPSCs). Here, a facile method is employed to manage this crystallization process by using cold precursor solution that raises the critical Gibbs free energy to slow down the nucleation rate, sparing both space and time for crystal growth. In this way, highly oriented FASnI 3 films with micrometer-scale grains are fabricated and an increase of 70 mV in the open-circuit voltage is obtained for TPSCs. This method is compatible with other existed strategies such as additive engineering or the post-treatment method. The best-performing device that combines 0 °C precursor solution and post-treatment method demonstrates a PCE of 12.11%.

No abstract

Nanostructured silicon solar cells show great potential for new-generation photovoltaics due to their ability to approach ideal light-trapping. However, the nanofeatured morphology that brings about the optical benefits also introduces new recombination channels, and severe deterioration in the electrical performance even outweighs the gain in optics in most attempts. This Research News article aims to review the recent progress in the suppression of carrier recombination in silicon nanostructures, with the emphasis on the optimization of surface morphology and controllable nanostructure height and emitter doping concentration, as well as application of dielectric passivation coatings, providing design rules to realize high-efficiency nanostructured silicon solar cells on a large scale.

No abstract