Roadmap on commercialization of metal halide perovskite photovoltaics

Abstract

Perovskite solar cells represent one of the most promising emerging photovoltaic technologies due to their high power conversion efficiency. However, despite of the huge progress made not only in terms of the efficiency achieved, but also fundamental understanding of relevant physics of the devices and issues which affect their efficiency and stability, there are still unresolved problems and obstacles on the path towards commercialization of this promising technology. In this roadmap, we aim to provide a concise and up to date summary of outstanding issues and challenges, and progress made towards addressing these issues. While the format of this article is not meant to be a comprehensive review of the topic, it provides a collection of the viewpoints of the experts in the field which covers a broad range of topics related to perovskite solar cell commercialization, including those relevant for manufacturing (scaling up, different types of devices), operation and stability (various factors), and environmental issues (in particular the use of lead). We hope that the article will provide a useful resource for researchers in the field and that it will facilitate discussions and moving forward towards addressing the outstanding challenges in this fast developing field.

Solvent–antisolvent interactions in metal halide perovskites

“…Beyond the technological challenges that need to be addressed, as highlighted before, the high toxicity of many of the antisolvents may pose significant health risks and environmental hazards, thus negatively impacting the life-cycle analysis of perovskite optoelectronic devices. 101,128 This motivated the search for greener chemicals that can be utilized for perovskite film formation. 97,129 However, typically, such antisolvents lead to a slightly inferior film quality and a reduced device efficiency.…”

Influence of chemical interactions on the electronic properties of BiOI/organic semiconductor heterojunctions for application in solution-processed electronics

“…Extensive research on lead-halide perovskites has established the possibility of high quality, up-scalable (opto-)electronics fabricated using solution processing and at the same time, highlighted their shortcomings owing to the toxicity and poor stability of perovskite-based devices. [1][2][3] Many of the compelling properties of lead-based perovskites can be traced back to the ns 2 -configuration of the lead(II) cation. 4 Therefore, materials based on non-toxic bismuth(III), tin(II) or antimony(III) cations, which also have an ns 2 outer shell electronic configuration, have been viewed as the obvious next choices, with extensive work being invested in driving up the efficiencies of (opto-)electronic devices that are based on them.…”

Perovskite solar cell technology scaling‐up: Eco‐efficient and industrially compatible sub‐module manufacturing by fully ambient air slot‐die/blade meniscus coating

“…The efforts related to the material compositions, the device architecture, and the fabrication process permitted to reach efficiencies of up to 26.1% for the single junction and 33.7% in tandem with silicon. The real exploitation at the market level of PVSK PV technology can be feasible only if the laboratory cells (area ˂1 cm 2 ) results will be transferred to mini (area ˂200 cm 2 ) and sub‐module devices (200 cm 2 ≤ area ≤ 800 cm 2 ) 1,5–7 . A module device is composed of a number of sub‐cells connected in series to overcome the non‐negligible sheet resistance of the transparent conductive oxide (TCO) glass substrates that induce large ohmic losses when the current of the cell increases 8 .…”

“…A module device is composed of a number of sub‐cells connected in series to overcome the non‐negligible sheet resistance of the transparent conductive oxide (TCO) glass substrates that induce large ohmic losses when the current of the cell increases 8 . In the scaling‐up route, the high‐quality large area PVSK films, the low losses induced by front contact and the cells' interconnections are the main factors in getting reproducible and reliable high‐efficiency modules 7,9–11 . Layers inhomogeneity rises when transferring to module devices processes and material compositions optimized for the small area cells 12 .…”

“…In summary, several coating/printing methods have been investigated for scaling up different PVSK compounds both in the glove box and ambient air environment 7 . For each method, proper optimizations of PVSK precursor solution and deposition parameters are mandatory to produce highly efficient and stable devices.…”