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In the lab, the cells achieved 19.3% efficiency.
Researchers have achieved a major breakthrough in producing perovskite solar cells as they have developed a multi-source co-evaporation recipe that markedly enhances the crystal quality of vacuum-deposited perovskite films.
The advance brings all vacuum-deposited single-junction perovskite cells as well as perovskite-on-silicon tandem solar cells closer to scalable production, according to researchers from the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST).
The research team revealed that introducing a lead chloride (PbCl2) “co-source” during thermal co-evaporation can effectively direct how the perovskite crystals grow. The approach yields a highly ordered wide-bandgap perovskite (1.67 eV) with many grains aligned in a (100) “face-up” orientation, which is a hallmark of a more crystalline film that better resists light- and heat-driven degradation, resulting in improved optoelectronic properties and stronger stability under light and heat stressors.
Using this newly developed deposition recipe, the team achieved the first certified performance for an all-vacuum-deposited wide-bandgap perovskite solar cell, reaching a maximum-power-point-tracked power conversion efficiency of 18.35% on a 0.25 cm2 device. In the lab, the cells achieved 19.3% efficiency and delivered 18.5% on the more challenging 1 cm2 cell size, according to a press release.
“Our work addresses the core materials-science problem that has held back vacuum-deposited perovskites,” said first author Dr. SHEN Xinyi, a postdoctoral researcher of HKUST’s ECE Department.
“By engineering the evaporation process to control crystal orientation, we have achieved extended thermal and photostability on par with state-of-the-art solution-processed counterparts, but with all the inherent advantages of a dry, industry-compatible vacuum technique.”
To test durability, the team followed the International Summit on Organic Photovoltaic Stability (ISOS) protocol. Under the stringent ISOS-L-2 accelerated ageing test: full-spectrum, 1-sun-equivalent illumination with no ultraviolet filter, at 75 ± 5 °C in air, operated at open circuit, the encapsulated cells retained 80% of their peak performance after 1,080 hours, according to a press release.
Researchers used operando hyperspectral imaging to see what was happening inside the devices as they operated. The operando hyperspectral imaging is an advanced “spectral camera” that maps optical signals across a working solar cell, pixel by pixel.
“Leveraging operando hyperspectral imaging, we obtained unprecedented spatiotemporal insights into device physics and revealed the factors governing extended device lifetime,” said Prof. LIN Yen-Hung, Assistant Professor in the Department of Electronic and Computer Engineering (ECE).
“We visualized and distinguished the processes of halide segregation and trap-mediated recombination at the microscopic scale, directly linking these features to macroscopic device performance.”
The research team revealed that high-quality vacuum-deposited perovskite layers are especially valuable for tandem solar cells, where a perovskite top cell is stacked on a silicon bottom cell to harvest more of the solar spectrum.
Using their improved films, the team achieved conformal coating on industrial-standard silicon heterojunction cells with micron-scale texture, delivering 27.2%-efficient 1-cm2 perovskite-on-silicon tandem solar cells. In an outdoor trial in Italy, their all-vacuum-deposited tandem cells maintained approximately 80% of their initial performance after 8 months of real-world operation, highlighting progress toward stable perovskite-on-silicon tandems, as per the press release.
Prabhat, an alumnus of the Indian Institute of Mass Communication, is a tech and defense journalist. While he enjoys writing on modern weapons and emerging tech, he has also reported on global politics and business. He has been previously associated with well-known media houses, including the International Business Times (Singapore Edition) and ANI.
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