Pathways toward high-performance perovskite solar cells: review of recent advances in organo-metal halide perovskites for photovoltaic applications
01 Apr 2016-Journal of Photonics for Energy (International Society for Optics and Photonics)-Vol. 6, Iss: 2, pp 022001-022001
TL;DR: In this article, the authors review major advances in perovskite solar cells that have contributed to the recent efficiency enhancements, including the evolution of device architecture, the development of material deposition processes, and the advanced device engineering techniques aiming to improve control over morphology, crystallinity, composition, and interface properties of the perovsite thin films.
Abstract: Organo-metal halide perovskite–based solar cells have been the focus of intense research over the past five years, and power conversion efficiencies have rapidly been improved from 3.8 to >21%. This article reviews major advances in perovskite solar cells that have contributed to the recent efficiency enhancements, including the evolution of device architecture, the development of material deposition processes, and the advanced device engineering techniques aiming to improve control over morphology, crystallinity, composition, and the interface properties of the perovskite thin films. The challenges and future directions for perovskite solar cell research and development are also discussed.
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TL;DR: In this article, a bottom-up cost model for perovskite PV modules fabricated using feasible low-cost materials and processes is presented, which shows that PSCs can emerge as a cost leader in PV power generation if critical remaining issues can be resolved.
Abstract: After rapid progress in the past few years, emerging solar cells based on metal halide perovskites have become a potential candidate to rival and even outperform crystalline silicon photovoltaics (PV) in the marketplace. With high material utilization, easy manufacturing processes, and high power conversion efficiencies >20%, many experts anticipate that perovskite solar cells (PSCs) will be one of the cheapest PV technologies in the future. Here we evaluate the economic potential of PSCs by developing a bottom-up cost model for perovskite PV modules fabricated using feasible low-cost materials and processes. We calculate the direct manufacturing cost ($31.7 per m2) and the minimum sustainable price (MSP, $0.41 per Wp) for a standard perovskite module manufactured in the United States. Such modules, operating at 16% photoconversion efficiency in a 30-year, unsubsidized, utility-level power plant, would produce electricity at levelized cost of energy (LCOE) values ranging from 4.93 to 7.90 ¢ per kW per h. We discuss limitations in comparing calculated MSPs to actual market prices, determine the effect of module lifetime, examine the effects of alternative materials and constructions, and indicate avenues to further reduce the MSP and LCOE values. The analysis shows that PSCs can emerge as a cost leader in PV power generation if critical remaining issues can be resolved.
400 citations
TL;DR: In this article, laser beam induced current imaging is used to investigate the spatial and temporal evolution of the quantum efficiency of perovskite solar cells under controlled humidity conditions and several interesting mechanistic aspects are revealed as the degradation proceeds along a four-stage process.
Abstract: After rapid progress over the past five years, organic-inorganic perovskite solar cells (PSCs) currently exhibit photoconversion efficiencies comparable to the best commercially available photovoltaic technologies. However, instabilities in the materials and devices, primarily due to reactions with water, have kept PSCs from entering the marketplace. Here, laser beam induced current imaging is used to investigate the spatial and temporal evolution of the quantum efficiency of perovskite solar cells under controlled humidity conditions. Several interesting mechanistic aspects are revealed as the degradation proceeds along a four-stage process. Three of the four stages can be reversed, while the fourth stage leads to irreversible decomposition of the photoactive perovskite material. A series of reactions in the PbI2-CH3NH3I-H2O system explains the interplay between the interactions with water and the overall stability. Understanding of the degradation mechanisms of PSCs on a microscopic level gives insight into improving the long-term stability.
333 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, a critical survey of the recent progress in perovskite absorber and charge transport materials that account for the exceptionally higher PCE of perovsite devices is presented.
Abstract: The breakthrough discovery of organic-inorganic hybrid perovskite materials for converting solar energy into electrical energy has revolutionized the third generation photovoltaic devices. Within less than half a decade of rigorous research and development in perovskite solar cells, the efficiency is boosted upto 22%. Aforesaid high PCE is accredited to high optical absorption properties, balanced charge transport properties, and longer diffusion lengths of carriers. Two dominant perovskite solar cell architecture has evolved; n-i-p, and p-i-n with mesoporous or planar heterojunction. In planar heterojunction configuration, perovskite light harvester is layered between hole/electron transport layers and the electrodes. The electron and hole transporting films increase charge collection efficiency and reduce recombination at interfaces. In the following review, we present a critical survey of the recent progress in perovskite absorber and charge transport materials that account for the exceptionally higher PCE of perovskite devices. Furthermore, numerous fabrication techniques and device architectures are summarized.
292 citations
TL;DR: The exploitation of GRMs in the form of dispersions and inks opens the way for scalable large-area production, advancing the possible commercialization of PSCs.
Abstract: Interface engineering is performed by the addition of graphene and related 2 D materials (GRMs) into perovskite solar cells (PSCs), leading to improvements in the power conversion efficiency (PCE). By doping the mesoporous TiO2 layer with graphene flakes (mTiO2+G), produced by liquid-phase exfoliation of pristine graphite, and by inserting graphene oxide (GO) as an interlayer between the perovskite and hole-transport layers, using a two-step deposition procedure in air, we achieved a PCE of 18.2 %. The obtained PCE value mainly results from improved charge-carrier injection/collection with respect to conventional PSCs. Although the addition of GRMs does not influence the shelf life, it is beneficial for the stability of PSCs under several aging conditions. In particular, mTiO2+G PSCs retain more than 88 % of the initial PCE after 16 h of prolonged 1 sun illumination at the maximum power point. Moreover, when subjected to prolonged heating at 60 °C, the GO-based structures show enhanced stability with respect to mTiO2+G PSCs, as a result of thermally induced modification at the mTiO2+G/perovskite interface. The exploitation of GRMs in the form of dispersions and inks opens the way for scalable large-area production, advancing the possible commercialization of PSCs.
164 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors performed a cradle-to-gate environmental life cycle (LCA) for two different perovskite device structures suitable for low-cost manufacturing and found that the toxicity impacts of the lead used in the formation of the absorber layer were negligible.
147 citations
References
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TL;DR: In this article, the authors describe a photovoltaic cell, created from low-to medium-purity materials through low-cost processes, which exhibits a commercially realistic energy-conversion efficiency.
Abstract: THE large-scale use of photovoltaic devices for electricity generation is prohibitively expensive at present: generation from existing commercial devices costs about ten times more than conventional methods1. Here we describe a photovoltaic cell, created from low-to medium-purity materials through low-cost processes, which exhibits a commercially realistic energy-conversion efficiency. The device is based on a 10-µm-thick, optically transparent film of titanium dioxide particles a few nanometres in size, coated with a monolayer of a charge-transfer dye to sensitize the film for light harvesting. Because of the high surface area of the semiconductor film and the ideal spectral characteristics of the dye, the device harvests a high proportion of the incident solar energy flux (46%) and shows exceptionally high efficiencies for the conversion of incident photons to electrical current (more than 80%). The overall light-to-electric energy conversion yield is 7.1-7.9% in simulated solar light and 12% in diffuse daylight. The large current densities (greater than 12 mA cm-2) and exceptional stability (sustaining at least five million turnovers without decomposition), as well as the low cost, make practical applications feasible.
26,457 citations
"Pathways toward high-performance pe..." refers background in this paper
...The electrode assembly is contacted by a liquid electrolyte containing a redox couple.(46) In these devices, TiO2 is used to collect and transport the electrons, while the electrolyte acts as a hole conductor....
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TL;DR: Two organolead halide perovskite nanocrystals were found to efficiently sensitize TiO(2) for visible-light conversion in photoelectrochemical cells, which exhibit strong band-gap absorptions as semiconductors.
Abstract: Two organolead halide perovskite nanocrystals, CH3NH3PbBr3 and CH3NH3PbI3, were found to efficiently sensitize TiO2 for visible-light conversion in photoelectrochemical cells. When self-assembled on mesoporous TiO2 films, the nanocrystalline perovskites exhibit strong band-gap absorptions as semiconductors. The CH3NH3PbI3-based photocell with spectral sensitivity of up to 800 nm yielded a solar energy conversion efficiency of 3.8%. The CH3NH3PbBr3-based cell showed a high photovoltage of 0.96 V with an external quantum conversion efficiency of 65%.
16,634 citations
"Pathways toward high-performance pe..." refers methods in this paper
...The first OMHPs employed in PV were used as direct replacements for the dye sensitizers in the DSSCs.23,45 The typical DSSC structure employs a several-micron thick porous TiO2 layer that is coated and penetrated with an absorber dye material....
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...The first known use of OMHP was as a dye in DSSC, which reported a 3% PCE in 2009.(23)...
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...The first OMHPs employed in PV were used as direct replacements for the dye sensitizers in the DSSCs.(23,45) The typical DSSC structure employs a several-micron thick porous TiO2 layer that is coated and penetrated with an absorber dye material....
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TL;DR: A low-cost, solution-processable solar cell, based on a highly crystalline perovskite absorber with intense visible to near-infrared absorptivity, that has a power conversion efficiency of 10.9% in a single-junction device under simulated full sunlight is reported.
Abstract: The energy costs associated with separating tightly bound excitons (photoinduced electron-hole pairs) and extracting free charges from highly disordered low-mobility networks represent fundamental losses for many low-cost photovoltaic technologies. We report a low-cost, solution-processable solar cell, based on a highly crystalline perovskite absorber with intense visible to near-infrared absorptivity, that has a power conversion efficiency of 10.9% in a single-junction device under simulated full sunlight. This "meso-superstructured solar cell" exhibits exceptionally few fundamental energy losses; it can generate open-circuit photovoltages of more than 1.1 volts, despite the relatively narrow absorber band gap of 1.55 electron volts. The functionality arises from the use of mesoporous alumina as an inert scaffold that structures the absorber and forces electrons to reside in and be transported through the perovskite.
9,158 citations
"Pathways toward high-performance pe..." refers background in this paper
...2(a)] was formed by replacing the liquid electrolyte with a solid-state hole conductor.(25,26) This advance...
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...cells evolved from this same structure, with the OMHP materials acting simply as a dye replacement.(25,26) Interest increased when the so-called mesoscopic device structure [Fig....
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...An electrically insulating mesoporous layer allows high VOC to be achieved if there is a lack of sub-band gap and surface electronic states.(26) A variety of...
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...The so-called perovskite fever(24) did not fully bloom until a solid-state cell was developed and devices with ∼10% efficiency were reported in 2012.(25,26) Since then, OMHP-based PV device performance has rapidly progressed, and a best efficiency record of >21% was achieved in late 2015....
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TL;DR: A sequential deposition method for the formation of the perovskite pigment within the porous metal oxide film that greatly increases the reproducibility of their performance and allows the fabrication of solid-state mesoscopic solar cells with unprecedented power conversion efficiencies and high stability.
Abstract: Following pioneering work, solution-processable organic-inorganic hybrid perovskites-such as CH3NH3PbX3 (X = Cl, Br, I)-have attracted attention as light-harvesting materials for mesoscopic solar cells. So far, the perovskite pigment has been deposited in a single step onto mesoporous metal oxide films using a mixture of PbX2 and CH3NH3X in a common solvent. However, the uncontrolled precipitation of the perovskite produces large morphological variations, resulting in a wide spread of photovoltaic performance in the resulting devices, which hampers the prospects for practical applications. Here we describe a sequential deposition method for the formation of the perovskite pigment within the porous metal oxide film. PbI2 is first introduced from solution into a nanoporous titanium dioxide film and subsequently transformed into the perovskite by exposing it to a solution of CH3NH3I. We find that the conversion occurs within the nanoporous host as soon as the two components come into contact, permitting much better control over the perovskite morphology than is possible with the previously employed route. Using this technique for the fabrication of solid-state mesoscopic solar cells greatly increases the reproducibility of their performance and allows us to achieve a power conversion efficiency of approximately 15 per cent (measured under standard AM1.5G test conditions on solar zenith angle, solar light intensity and cell temperature). This two-step method should provide new opportunities for the fabrication of solution-processed photovoltaic cells with unprecedented power conversion efficiencies and high stability equal to or even greater than those of today's best thin-film photovoltaic devices.
8,427 citations
"Pathways toward high-performance pe..." refers background or methods in this paper
...The reason for this is that single-step solution deposition using DMF and GBL solvents often results in the formation of needle- and spherical-shaped colloidal intermediates.(28,85) To improve the surface morphology of spin-coated perovskite films, several precursor solution additives have been employed to suppress the formation of deleterious intermediates....
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...3(b)] to prepare perovskite solar cells, which has resulted in efficiencies>15%.(28) In a typical two-step solution procedure, a PbI2 seed layer is spin-coated and then converted to MAPbI3 by dipping the substrate into an MAI/isopropanol solution....
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...The process can be well controlled and, consequently, has been extensively used to fabricate high-efficiency devices.(28,56,76,77) The two-step solution method provides a reproducible way to fabricate high-quality perovskite thin films....
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TL;DR: In this article, transient absorption and photoluminescence-quenching measurements were performed to determine the electron-hole diffusion lengths, diffusion constants, and lifetimes in mixed halide and triiodide perovskite absorbers.
Abstract: Organic-inorganic perovskites have shown promise as high-performance absorbers in solar cells, first as a coating on a mesoporous metal oxide scaffold and more recently as a solid layer in planar heterojunction architectures. Here, we report transient absorption and photoluminescence-quenching measurements to determine the electron-hole diffusion lengths, diffusion constants, and lifetimes in mixed halide (CH3NH3PbI(3-x)Cl(x)) and triiodide (CH3NH3PbI3) perovskite absorbers. We found that the diffusion lengths are greater than 1 micrometer in the mixed halide perovskite, which is an order of magnitude greater than the absorption depth. In contrast, the triiodide absorber has electron-hole diffusion lengths of ~100 nanometers. These results justify the high efficiency of planar heterojunction perovskite solar cells and identify a critical parameter to optimize for future perovskite absorber development.
8,199 citations