Recent Progress in Perovskite Solar Cells: Status and Future

Abstract

The power conversion efficiency (PCE) of perovskite solar cells (PSCs) has seen effective performance upgrades, showing remarkable academic research and commercial application value. Compared with commercial silicon cells, the PCE gap is narrowing. However, the stability, cost, and large-scale production are still far behind. For scale-up preparing high-efficiency and stable PSCs, there is a variety of related research from each functional layer of perovskite solar cells. This review systematically summarizes the recent research on the functional layers, including the electron transport layer, perovskite layer, hole transport layer, and electrode. The common ETL materials, such as TiO2, SnO2, and ZnO, need doping and a bi-layer ETL to promote their property. Large-scale and low-cost production of perovskite layers with excellent performance and stability has always been the focus. The expensive and instability problems of Spiro-OMeTAD and electrode materials remain to be solved. The main problems and future development direction of them are also discussed.

Carbon Electrodes for Perovskite Photovoltaics: Interfacial Properties, Meta‐analysis, and Prospects

“…spiro-OMeTAD, for example, is among the most commonly employed HSLs in conventional-architecture devices. [68,69] However, the p-type dopants necessary to improve the charge transport capacity of the neat material contribute to poor longterm stability. Lithium bis(trifluoromethanesulfonyl)imide (Li-TFSI) absorbs ambient moisture, and 4-tert-butylpyridine (TBP) evaporates from the film, leading to the formation of voids and pinholes (Figure 3).…”

Scalable Lead Acetate-Based Perovskite Thin Films Prepared via Controlled Nucleation and Growth under Near Ambient Conditions

“…Thus, dissolving the lead precursor salt into a solvent with a low boiling point, such as methanol, promotes faster evaporation of the solvent from the film and improves the film quality. Replacing commonly used toxic solvents such as N , N- dimethylformamide (DMF) with methanol has an additional positive impact on reducing the environmental burden of the process . Acetic acid (HAc), as an additive in the lead acetate solution, promotes better solubility of the metal salt at a lower pH .…”

“…Replacing commonly used toxic solvents such as N , N- dimethylformamide (DMF) with methanol has an additional positive impact on reducing the environmental burden of the process. 31 Acetic acid (HAc), as an additive in the lead acetate solution, promotes better solubility of the metal salt at a lower pH. 32 It has also been indicated that the presence of acetates in the perovskite precursor solution can improve the performance of the solar cell by an increase of the short-circuit current, 33 making the precursor solution an optimal choice for a two-step deposition using dip coating in both deposition stages.…”

Artificial intelligence applications in solar energy

“…Recent years have seen significant advancements in solar power, notably in the field of photovoltaic (PV) technology, in which solar energy could be integrated into energy production along with other sources such as coal, biomass, wind, and geothermal [72]- [74]. The manufacture of perovskite solar cells has the promise of increased efficiency as well as decreased manufacturing costs, which has the possibility of completely transforming the market [75]- [78]. Building-integrated photovoltaics, which is an expansion of solar technology that incorporates solar energy tracking systems and the incorporation of solar activity into construction supplies, has increased the usefulness of solar technology while also improving its aesthetics [79], [80].…”