Highly Efficient Semitransparent Perovskite Solar Cells for Four Terminal Perovskite-Silicon Tandems

Abstract

Tandem solar cells (SCs) based on perovskite and silicon represent an exciting possibility for a breakthrough in photovoltaics, enhancing SC power conversion efficiency (PCE) beyond the single-junction limit while keeping the production cost low. A critical aspect to push the tandem PCE close to its theoretical limit is the development of high-performing semitransparent perovskite top cells, which also allow suitable near-infrared transmission. Here, we have developed highly efficient semitransparent perovskite SCs (PSCs) based on both mesoporous and planar architectures, employing Cs0.05(MA0.17FA0.83)0.95Pb­(I0.83Br0.17)3 and FA0.87Cs0.13PbI2Br perovskites with band gaps of 1.58 and 1.72 eV, respectively, which achieved PCEs well above 17 and 14% by detailed control of the deposition methods, thickness, and optical transparency of the interlayers and the semitransparent electrode. By combining our champion 1.58 eV PSCs (PCE of 17.7%) with an industrial-relevant low-cost n-type Si SCs, a four-terminal (4T) tandem efficiency of 25.5% has been achieved. Moreover, for the first time, 4T tandem SCs’ performances have been measured in the low light intensity regime, achieving a PCE of 26.6%, corresponding to revealing a relative improvement above 9% compared to the standard 1 sun illumination condition. These results are very promising for their implementation under field-operating conditions.

Four‐Terminal Perovskite on Silicon Tandem Solar Cells Optimal Measurement Schemes

“…Details of characterizations and optimization processes of the perovskite absorber and charge-transport layers have been reported in our previous work. [8] In this work, both small-and larger-area PSCs have been fabricated with electrode area of 0.2 and 1.2 cm 2 , respectively ( Figure S2a, Supporting Information). PCE as high as 18.9% and 17.8% can be achieved for 0.2 and 1.2 cm 2 opaque PSCs respectively when they are masked with the same active area of 0.09 cm 2 ( Figure S2b, Supporting Information).…”

“…Moreover, the 4T tandem SCs have previously shown improved PCEs under low-intensity illuminations. [8] A higher energy yield and lower levelized cost of electricity (LCOE) can be possibly obtained using 4T configuration as compared with the 2T counterpart. [9] Additionally, semitransparent PSCs can be directly integrated on existing silicon PV installation.…”

2D/3D Heterostructure for Semitransparent Perovskite Solar Cells with Engineered Bandgap Enables Efficiencies Exceeding 25% in Four‐Terminal Tandems with Silicon and CIGS

“…To date, the most efficient perovskite‐based tandem solar cells have been realized using PSCs on top of low‐bandgap c‐Si [ 6,18,21,23,25,34–42,43 ] or thin‐film CIGS ( E g ≈ 1.0–1.2 eV) [ 24,44–49 ] solar cells. [ 4,19,20,50 ] Record PCEs of up to 29.1% (perovskite/c‐Si, 2T), [ 6 ] 27.7% (perovskite/c‐Si, 4T), [ 43,51 ] 23.3% (perovskite/CIGS, 2T), [ 48 ] and 25.9% (perovskite/CIGS, 4T) [ 45 ] have been reported for the different architectures and configurations.…”

Perovskite‐Based Tandem Solar Cells: Get the Most Out of the Sun

“…Also, it is interesting to see that the device with 4T configuration from both combinations showed higher performance than the 2T configurations, which could be attributed to the more straightforward device engineering steps of the 4T configuration. For perovskite material selection, MAPbI 3 is the most used perovskite absorber for the top 2014/ [16] 4T 2015/ [137] 2T 2016/ [43] 4T 2016/ [104] 4T 2016/ [123] 2T 2017/ [149] 4T(module) 2017/ [105] www.afm-journal.de www.advancedsciencenews.com [138] 4T (module) 2018/ [124] 2T 2019/ [159] 2T [163] 2T 1.00 2020/ [17] 4T Designates steady-state efficiency. cells in perovskite/Si and perovskite/CIGS tandems, especially in 4T tandem devices ( Figure 22).…”