Current and future advancements for integrated perovskite/organic solar cells

Integrated perovskite/organic solar cells (IPOSCs) have the distinct advantage of improved short-circuit current density with high open-circuit voltage. They offer high efficiency in terms of absorption and a low-cost solution to fabrication. Wang et al. highlight their advantages in a review of current advancements in the field and potential options for future research.

“Since we are working on organic and perovskite solar cells, our effort is to put these two types of semiconductors together as a team,” said author Tao Wang. “This new type of device extends its light absorption by integrating two semiconductors together, yet its device architecture is much simpler as it discards the recombination layer of tandem solar cells, making it a promising type of device to produce high efficiency solar cell devices at low cost.”

The review describes that typical IPOSCs operate using a bulk heterojunction (BHJ) blend and a combination of electron donor and accepter layers. Then the authors identify that low device performance can often stem from excessive acceptors in the BHJ layer and that this should be taken into consideration during the design process. After determining critical factors necessary to ensure highly efficient IPOSCs, such as ideal device structure, choice of materials and choice of perovskite layer, the authors find that narrow bandgaps near infrared donors or acceptors are the most promising candidates to prepare the BHJ layer.

Material choice and morphological control of the organic layers significantly impact charge transport and recombination and the authors explain that this should be a focus in future research. They explained that high carrier mobilities and low carrier recombination are the priority issue in enhancing the design of IPOSCs.

Source: “Recent progress and prospects of integrated perovskite/organic solar cells,” by Pang Wang, Yixin Zhao, and Tao Wang, Applied Physics Reviews (2020). The article can be accessed at https://doi.org/10.1063/5.0013912 .