Solvent engineering for scalable fabrication of perovskite/silicon tandem solar cells in air.

Perovskite/silicon tandem solar cells hold great promise for realizing high power conversion efficiency at low cost. However, achieving scalable fabrication of wide-bandgap perovskite (~1.68 eV) in air, without the protective environment of an inert atmosphere, remains challenging due to moisture-induced degradation of perovskite films. Herein, this study reveals that the extent of moisture interference is significantly influenced by the properties of solvent. We further demonstrate that n-Butanol (nBA), with its low polarity and moderate volatilization rate, not only mitigates the detrimental effects of moisture in air during scalable fabrication but also enhances the uniformity of perovskite films. This approach enables us to achieve an impressive efficiency of 29.4% (certified 28.7%) for double-sided textured perovskite/silicon tandem cells featuring large-size pyramids (2-3 µm) and 26.3% over an aperture area of 16 cm2. This advance provides a route for large-scale production of perovskite/silicon tandem solar cells, marking a significant stride toward their commercial viability.

Homogeneous crystallization and buried interface passivation for perovskite tandem solar modules.

Scalable fabrication of all-perovskite tandem solar cells is challenging because the narrow-bandgap subcells made of mixed lead-tin (Pb-Sn) perovskite films suffer from nonuniform crystallization and inferior buried perovskite interfaces. We used a dopant from Good's list of biochemical buffers, aminoacetamide hydrochloride, to homogenize perovskite crystallization and used it to extend the processing window for blade-coating Pb-Sn perovskite films and to selectively passivate defects at the buried perovskite interface. The resulting all-perovskite tandem solar module exhibited a certified power conversion efficiency of 24.5% with an aperture area of 20.25 square centimeters.

Scalable Solution-Processed Hybrid Electron Transport Layers for Efficient All-Perovskite Tandem Solar Modules.

All-perovskite tandem solar cells offer the potential to surpass the Shockley-Queisser (SQ) limit efficiency of single-junction solar cells while maintaining the advantages of low-cost and high-productivity solution processing. However, scalable solution processing of electron transport layer (ETL) in p-i-n structured perovskite solar subcells remains challenging due to the rough perovskite film surface and energy level mismatch between ETL and perovskites. Here, scalable solution processing of hybrid fullerenes (HF) with blade-coating on both wide-bandgap (≈1.80 eV) and narrow-bandgap (≈1.25 eV) perovskite films in all-perovskite tandem solar modules is developed. The HF, comprising a mixture of fullerene (C60 ), phenyl C61 butyric acid methyl ester, and indene-C60 bisadduct, exhibits improved conductivity, superior energy level alignment with both wide- and narrow-bandgap perovskites, and reduced interfacial nonradiative recombination when compared to the conventional thermal-evaporated C60 . With scalable solution-processed HF as the ETLs, the all-perovskite tandem solar modules achieve a champion power conversion efficiency of 23.3% (aperture area = 20.25 cm2 ). This study paves the way to all-solution processing of low-cost and high-efficiency all-perovskite tandem solar modules in the future.

Efficient All-Perovskite Tandem Solar Cells with Low-Optical-Loss Carbazolyl Interconnecting Layers.

Combining wide-band gap (WBG) and narrow-band gap (NBG) perovskites with interconnecting layers (ICLs) to construct monolithic all-perovskite tandem solar cell is an effective way to achieve high power conversion efficiency (PCE). However, optical losses from ICLs need to be further reduced to leverage the full potential of all-perovskite tandem solar cells. Here, metal oxide nanocrystal layers anchored with carbazolyl hole-selective-molecules (CHs), which exhibit much lower optical loss, is employed to replace poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) polystyrenesulfonate (PEDOT : PSS) as the hole transporting layers (HTLs) in lead-tin (Pb-Sn) perovskite sub-cells and ICLs in all-perovskite tandem solar cells. Optically transparent indium tin oxide nanocrystals (ITO NCs) layers are employed to enhance anchoring of CHs, while a mixture of two CHs is adopted to tune the surface energy-levels of ITO NCs. The optimized mixed Pb-Sn NBG perovskite solar cells demonstrate a high PCE of 23.2 %, with a high short-circuit current density (Jsc ) of 33.5 mA cm-2 . A high PCE of 28.1 % is further obtained in all-perovskite tandem solar cells, with the highest Jsc of 16.7 mA cm-2 to date. Encapsulated tandem solar cells maintain 90 % of their reference point after 500 h of operation at the maximum power point (MPP) under 1-Sun illumination.

All-perovskite tandem solar cells with 3D/3D bilayer perovskite heterojunction.

All-perovskite tandem solar cells promise higher power-conversion efficiency (PCE) than single-junction perovskite solar cells (PSCs) while maintaining a low fabrication cost1-3. However, their performance is still largely constrained by the subpar performance of mixed lead-tin (Pb-Sn) narrow-bandgap (NBG) perovskite subcells, mainly because of a high trap density on the perovskite film surface4-6. Although heterojunctions with intermixed 2D/3D perovskites could reduce surface recombination, this common strategy induces transport losses and thereby limits device fill factors (FFs)7-9. Here we develop an immiscible 3D/3D bilayer perovskite heterojunction (PHJ) with type II band structure at the Pb-Sn perovskite-electron-transport layer (ETL) interface to suppress the interfacial non-radiative recombination and facilitate charge extraction. The bilayer PHJ is formed by depositing a layer of lead-halide wide-bandgap (WBG) perovskite on top of the mixed Pb-Sn NBG perovskite through a hybrid evaporation-solution-processing method. This heterostructure allows us to increase the PCE of Pb-Sn PSCs having a 1.2-µm-thick absorber to 23.8%, together with a high open-circuit voltage (Voc) of 0.873 V and a high FF of 82.6%. We thereby demonstrate a record-high PCE of 28.5% (certified 28.0%) in all-perovskite tandem solar cells. The encapsulated tandem devices retain more than 90% of their initial performance after 600 h of continuous operation under simulated one-sun illumination.

Oxidation-resistant all-perovskite tandem solar cells in substrate configuration.

The commonly-used superstrate configuration (depositing front subcell first and then depositing back subcell) in all-perovskite tandem solar cells is disadvantageous for long-term stability due to oxidizable narrow-bandgap perovskite assembled last and easily exposable to air. Here we reverse the processing order and demonstrate all-perovskite tandems in a substrate configuration (depositing back subcell first and then depositing front subcell) to bury oxidizable narrow-bandgap perovskite deep in the device stack. By using guanidinium tetrafluoroborate additive in wide-bandgap perovskite subcell, we achieve an efficiency of 25.3% for the substrate-configured all-perovskite tandem cells. The unencapsulated devices exhibit no performance degradation after storage in dry air for 1000 hours. The substrate configuration also widens the choice of flexible substrates: we achieve 24.1% and 20.3% efficient flexible all-perovskite tandem solar cells on copper-coated polyethylene naphthalene and copper metal foil, respectively. Substrate configuration offers a promising route to unleash the commercial potential of all-perovskite tandem solar cells.