Spectral Splitting as a Route to Promote Total Efficiency of Hybrid Photovoltaic Thermal with a Halide Perovskite Cell

Abstract

Integrating photovoltaic (PV) perovskite solar cells and photothermal (PT) collectors into a hybrid photovoltaic thermal (PVT) is a promising method to further improve the conversion efficiency of solar energy via salvaging the near‐infrared energy. Herein, a 1D photonic crystal of Si/GeO2 to construct a spectrally selective PV–PT splitter that selectively reflects solar energy in the PV band while absorbing the rest is utilized. The fabricated PV–PT splitter reveals a considerable reflectance of 92.3% in the PV band, a comprehensive absorptance of 52.1% in the PT band, as well as good angular independence over a wide incident range of 0–70°. The hybrid PVT design with the Si/GeO2 spectral splitter/absorber and a perovskite solar cell (PSC) acquires a solar‐to‐electrical efficiency of 29.3% higher than the single PSC (24.6%). In addition, the temperature of PSCs in the hybrid PVT design under 1 kW m−2 solar irradiation can be significantly reduced by 15 °C owing to suppression of ineffectively converted incident photons on the PV cells. This appealing strategy highlights a new avenue for further enhancing the total electrical efficiency via broadening the utilization of the entire solar spectrum in the hybrid PVT design integrated with wide‐bandgap perovskite solar cells.

Enhanced Silicon Photovoltaic Efficiency by Solar Light Spectral Modulation via Photonically Tuned Porphyrin–Iron Oxide Hybrid Thin Films

“…Spectral splitting via hybrid photovoltaic thermal (PVT) has also been achieved with perovskite cells. [57,58] By integrating PV and PT, Wu et al developed a hybrid PVT system via spectral selectively utilizing the near-infrared energy from the solar light. [57] They employed a photonic crystal of Si/GeO 2 to spectral selectively splitting the photon energy respectively for PV and PT in order to fully utilize the solar spectrum.…”

“…[57,58] By integrating PV and PT, Wu et al developed a hybrid PVT system via spectral selectively utilizing the near-infrared energy from the solar light. [57] They employed a photonic crystal of Si/GeO 2 to spectral selectively splitting the photon energy respectively for PV and PT in order to fully utilize the solar spectrum. The hybrid PVT design has achieved a solar-to-electrical efficiency of 29.3%.…”