Degradation and stability of perovskite solar cells

There is great interest in commercializing perovskite solar cells, however, the presence of defects and trap states hinder their performance. Here, recent developments in characterization techniques to investigate defects and ion migration in halide perovskites are reviewed.

Lead-based halide perovskite solar cells offer attractive power conversion efficiencies, but the release of lead into the environment is a major concern. Here, lead-free, tin-based perovskites are reviewed as an alternative, with a focus on how to extend their long-term stability.

Inverted perovskite solar cells are promising for real-world energy harvesting, but suffer from issues with environmental stability. This Review discusses current understanding of stability in these devices and recent attempts to improve stability, as well as future directions that might enable their market roll-out.

3D perovskites are widely researched for their use in optoelectronic devices, yet suffer from issues with environmental stability. Here, the improved stability of 2D and quasi-2D perovskites under a range of environmental factors, as compared to their 3D counterparts, is discussed.

Stable performance in solar cells is a key requirement for industrial success. Here, stability and degradation of perovskite solar cells are discussed within the context of the International Electrotechnical Commission’s standards for commercialized solar cells.

Humidity can change the properties of halide perovskites used in functional devices. Here, indentation experiments reveal that humidity causes an increase in elastic modulus and a decrease in hardness, which is correlated to bond length, hydrogen bonding and polarizability of the ions.

Stable performance is a key requirement for solar cell devices. Here, spectroscopy combined with depth profiling reveals I₂ and PbI₂ are distributed evenly in a perovskite solar cell under an electric field, while the electric field itself promotes chemical heterogeneity and device degradation.

High-throughput materials discovery can reduce the time taken to identify high-performing materials. Here, compositionally-graded films are fabricated in a binary halide perovskite system, of interest for solar cells, and their stability investigated during artificial aging.

Perovskite solar cells have seen a strong improvement in power conversion efficiency, but their intrinsic degradation is yet to be elucidated. Here, operando electron spin resonance is used to probe the number of spin states and relate its variation with the device performance under operation.

The contamination of water with lead from damaged perovskite solar cells is a key concern. Here, a spherical hydroxyapatite nanoparticle scaffold absorbs lead from a damaged device, keeping lead concentration in water below safe drinking limits.

Moisture resistance is vital for commercializing perovskite solar cells. Here, long-chain alkylammonium cation-based 2D perovskites are used to coat 3D perovskite, enabling stable performance for six months with only a 20 % drop in power conversion efficiency.

γ-phase CsPbI₃ perovskites are attractive for solar cells, but suffer from environmental degradation. Here, the addition of an ultraviolet-curable polymer network improves structural and electrical stability, retaining 90% of its electrical properties after exposure to air for 35 days.

The poor environmental stability of lead halide perovskites limits their performance in solar cells. Here, a CuSCN nanoplateletes/p-type semiconducting polymer composite layer enables the stable performance of a solar cell for 28 days in high-moisture conditions, attributed to water splitting.

Perovskite solar cells have substantial potential for solar conversion, but developing simple and scalable fabrication processes is challenging. Here, a drop-casting process compatible with roll-to-roll production of quasi-2D/3D perovskite layers is developed, with a conversion efficiency of up to 16%.

Common issues facing perovskite solar cells are current-voltage hysteresis and degradation during illumination. Here, a self-assembled monolayer is applied to an SnO₂ electron transport layer, helping to achieve hysteresis-less behavior and limited degradation after 1,000 hours of illumination.