Chemical polishing and passivation of perovskite film surface with BDA and EDAI2. Credit: Nature Communications (2024). DOI: 10.1038/s41467-024-51703-0
A team of engineers from Huazhong University of Science and Technology in China has independently designed, built and tested an all-perovskite tandem solar cell with record-breaking efficiency. Their paper is published in the journal Nature Communications.
Perovskite tandem solar cells combine two materials to capture a broader spectrum of sunlight, increasing efficiency. They are typically made by combining a perovskite top cell with a bottom cell made of another material, such as silicon or another perovskite variant.
Perovskite is a mineral composed primarily of calcium titanate. Solar cell manufacturers have been testing the use of perovskite as a replacement for silicon because it is cheaper, more efficient, and easier to manufacture, and because it allows solar cells to be made in uneven or even flexible configurations.
The use of perovskite in commercial applications, however, has been limited by the difficulty of producing panel surfaces free of defects, which result in nonradiative energy loss, reducing cell efficiency. In this new effort, the research team has found a way to create cells using the material with far fewer defects, resulting in record-breaking efficiencies.
The work consisted of developing a surface reconstruction technique that reduces surface defects in the top cell of the perovskite. The technique uses BDA and EDAI2 to allow the surface of the cell to be modified (polished).
The team was able to create a mixed Sn–Pb perovskite film with fewer defects than those obtained with other techniques or materials. This allowed for improved charge carrier transport and reduced energy losses at the transport layer.
To test their new technique, the researchers created and polished a top cell, which served as a light-absorbing layer. They then placed it on top of an electron-transferring layer made of C60with a hole transport layer of PEDOT:PSS. They then added gold contacts.
Tests showed the cell had an energy conversion efficiency of 28.49%, which was independently verified. They also note that the cell demonstrated durability, continuing to perform optimally after 550 hours of continuous operation.
More information:
Yongyan Pan et al., Surface chemical polishing and passivation minimize nonradiative recombination for all-perovskite tandem solar cells, Nature Communications (2024). DOI: 10.1038/s41467-024-51703-0
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