A research team in China has proposed a hemispherical perovskite solar cell with a textured surface designed to reduce sensitivity to the angle of incident sunlight. The hemispherical geometry is intended to enable radial charge collection, while the textured surface scatters incoming light in multiple directions to enhance absorption and promote more uniform charge generation.
“Perovskite solar cells have attracted intensive research interest as a promising candidate for next-generation photovoltaic technologies, offering high power conversion efficiency and low manufacturing cost,” the researchers said. “However, the practical energy yield of conventional planar perovskite cells is severely compromised by optical losses under varying solar incidence angles, leading to significant power fluctuations that undermine their viability for renewable energy generation.”
To evaluate the design, the researchers modeled five cell architectures: planar, nanowire, smooth hemispherical, and hemispherical structures with rounded-cone or textured rounded-cone front surfaces. Each device consisted of an indium tin oxide (ITO) electrode, a phenyl-C61-butyric acid methyl ester (PCBM) electron transport layer, a methylammonium lead iodide (CH₃NH₃PbI₃) perovskite absorber, a nickel oxide (NiO) hole transport layer, and a silver (Ag) rear electrode.
The researchers used Lumerical software to simulate the five architectures, analyzing light absorption, scattering, electromagnetic fields, and charge generation across wavelengths ranging from 300 nm to 800 nm and incidence angles from 0° to 50°. They then incorporated the resulting charge-generation profiles into electrical simulations that accounted for carrier transport and recombination. The simulations were used to calculate current-voltage characteristics, power conversion efficiency, and maximum power output under different illumination angles.
Across incidence angles ranging from 0° to 50°, the textured rounded-cone cell achieved an average short-circuit current density of 25.47 mA/cm², compared with 24.03 mA/cm² for the smooth hemispherical cell and 22.52 mA/cm² for the planar device. It also achieved an average maximum power output of 28.25 mW/cm² and light absorption exceeding 95%.
“The design effectively decouples device performance from incident light angle, overcoming the critical challenge of angular-dependent power output,” the researchers concluded. “The three-dimensional hemisphere symmetry enables balanced carrier transport, while the Mie resonances induced within the perovskite shell ensure efficient light trapping.”
The solar cell concept was presented in the study “Angle-robust photovoltaics via Mie resonance hybridization for stable power output in perovskite solar cells,” published in Solar Energy. The research team included scientists from China’s Jilin Normal University and the Chinese Academy of Sciences.
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