Intrinsically Stable and Versatile Co-Evaporated Halide Perovskites Solar Cells

Metal-halide perovskites (MHP) are one of the most promising low-cost optoelectronic materials, due to their excellent optoelectronic properties and fabrication versatility. Since the advent of the first perovskite solar cells (PSCs) in 2009, their power conversion efficiency (PCE) has now reached 25.6% [1], for active areas smaller than 1 cm² and their operational stability is constantly improving [2-4]. The interest in transferring the existing technology into large-area perovskite modules using industrial-compatible techniques is exploding.<br/>In this talk, I will show why thermal evaporation is a promising MHP fabrication technique to bring this technology closer to reliable and extended production, relying on excellent size scalability, promising stability, fine composition control, and surface adaptability [5]. The co-evaporated perovskite thin films are uniform over large areas with low surface roughness and a long carrier lifetime. I will present our highly efficient, large-area, PSCs where the MAPbI₃ perovskite is deposited by thermal co-evaporation. Developing optimization strategies customized for n.i.p [6-8] and p.i.n [9] architectures the PSCs achieved PCEs above 20% in both configurations and with different perovskites compositions. Moreover, the co-evaporated MAPbI₃ is formed intrinsically strain-free, and the PSCs showed remarkable structural robustness and impressive thermal maintaining over ≈80% of their initial PCE after 3600 under continuous thermal aging at 85 °C without encapsulation [8].<br/>Extrapolating the optimization strategies over large areas, the co-evaporated mini-modules achieved record PCEs of up to 18.7% for active areas larger than 10 cm². Looking toward building-integrated photovoltaics we have also developed colored semi-transparent PSCs and mini-modules with a wide range of colors.<br/>I will further discuss how these results represent a significant step toward the commercialization of the perovskite technology in comparison with other vacuum-based and hybrid technologies.<br/><br/><b>References </b><br/>1. NREL. Best Research-Cell efficiency Chart; U.S. Department of Energy; https://www.nrel.gov/pv/cell-efficiency.htm.<br/>2. S. Yang, S. Chen, E. Mosconi, Y. Fang, X. Xiao, C. Wang, Y. Zhou, Z. Yu, J. Zhao, Y. Gao, Science 2019, 365, 473.<br/>3. Y. Wang, T. Wu, J. Barbaud, W. Kong, D. Cui, H. Chen, X. Yang, L. Han, Science 2019 365, 687.<br/>4. MV Khenkin, EA Katz, et al., M Lira-Cantu, Nature Energy 5, 35-49<br/>5. H.A. Dewi, L. Jia, E. Erdenebileg, H. Wang, Mi. De Bastiani, S.De Wolf, N Mathews, S Mhaisalkar,<b> <b>A Bruno,</b></b>Sust. Energy & Fuels. 2022, <b>6</b>, 2428-2438<br/>6. J. Li, H. Wang, X. Y. Chin, H. A. Dewi, K. Vergeer, T. W. Goh, J. W. M. Lim, J. H. Lew, K. P. Loh, C. Soci, T. C. Sum, H. J. Bolink, N. Mathews, S. Mhaisalkar, A. Bruno, Joule 2020, 4, 1035<br/>7. E. Erdenebileg, j. Li, HA Dewi, W Hao, N Mathews, S Mhaisalkar, A Bruno, Solar RRL, 2022<br/>8. HA Dewi, L Li, W Hao, N Mathews, S Mhaisalkar, A Bruno, Adv. Funct. Mater. 2021 2100557,<br/>9. J Li, HA Dewi, W Hao, J Zhao, N Tiwari, N Yantara, T Malinauskas, V Getautis, T J. Savenije, N Mathews, S. Mhaisalkar, A Bruno, Adv. Funct. Mater. 2021.