Efficient tandem solar cells with solution-processed perovskite on textured crystalline silicon

TLDR

Growing wide‑band‑gap perovskite on textured silicon can boost silicon solar cell efficiency by forming tandem cells, but rough light‑trapping surfaces often fail to fully coat and are prone to phase separation. The authors grew thick ∼1.68‑eV perovskite films on textured silicon and applied 1‑butanethiol as a passivant to limit phase separation. The resulting tandem cells achieved a certified power‑conversion efficiency of 25.7 % and showed negligible degradation after 400 h of operation. Published in Science (p.

Abstract

Growing perovskite on textured silicon Wide–band gap perovskites could boost the efficiency of silicon solar cells by forming tandem cells, but usually the perovskite must be grown on a smoothed side of the silicon cell because the material grown on the rough light-trapping side often does not fully coat the silicon surface and its rough texture is prone to phase separation. Hou et al. grew thick films of a perovskite with a band gap of ∼1.68 electron volts and used a passivant, 1-butanethiol, to limit its phase separation. The tandem cells had a certified power conversion efficiency of 25.7% and had negligible losses after 400 hours of operation. Science , this issue p. 1135