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Minimizing non-radiative recombination losses in perovskite solar cells

Nature Reviews Materials volume 5, pages 44–60 (2020)Cite this article

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Abstract

Photovoltaic solar cells based on metal-halide perovskites have gained considerable attention over the past decade because of their potentially low production cost, earth-abundant raw materials, ease of fabrication and ever-increasing power-conversion efficiencies of up to 25.2%. This type of solar cells offers the promise of generating electricity at a more competitive unit price than traditional fossil fuels by 2035. Nevertheless, the best research-cell efficiencies are still below the theoretical limit defined by the Shockley–Queisser theory, owing to the presence of non-radiative recombination losses. In this Review, we analyse the predominant pathways that contribute to non-radiative recombination losses in perovskite solar cells and evaluate their impact on device performance. We then discuss how non-radiative recombination losses can be estimated through reliable characterization techniques and highlight some notable advances in mitigating these losses, which hint at pathways towards defect-free perovskite solar cells. Finally, we outline directions for future work that will push the efficiency of perovskite solar cells towards the radiative limit.

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Fig. 1: Perovskite solar cell configurations and record cell parameters compared to the Shockley–Queisser limit.
Fig. 2: Charge-carrier generation and recombination kinetics.
Fig. 3: Characterization techniques to quantify non-radiative recombination losses in perovskite thin films and complete devices.
Fig. 4: Defect-passivation strategies.
Fig. 5: Graded junctions in perovskite solar cells.
Fig. 6: Calculations of the maximum achievable device performance parameters in single-junction perovskite solar cells.

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Acknowledgements

This work was funded by the 973 Program of China (2015CB932203) and the National Natural Science Foundation of China (91733301, 61722501 and 61377025). W.Z. thanks the EPSRC New Investigator Award (2018; EP/R043272/1) for financial support.

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  1. These authors contributed equally: Deying Luo and Rui Su

Authors and Affiliations

  1. State Key Laboratory for Artificial Microstructure and Mesoscopic Physics, School of Physics, Frontiers Science Center for Nano-optoelectronics & Collaborative Innovation Center of Quantum Matter, Peking University, Beijing, 100871, China

    Deying Luo, Rui Su, Qihuang Gong & Rui Zhu

  2. Advanced Technology Institute, University of Surrey, Guildford, GU2 7XH, United Kingdom

    Wei Zhang

  3. State Centre for International Cooperation on Designer Low-Carbon and Environmental Material (SCICDLCEM), School of Materials Science and Engineering, Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou, 450001, China

    Wei Zhang

  4. Collaborative Innovation Center of Extreme Optics, Shanxi University, Taiyuan, Shanxi, 030006, China

    Qihuang Gong & Rui Zhu

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  1. Deying Luo
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All authors contributed to the discussion of content. D.L. and R.S. researched most of the data and wrote the draft. W.Z., Q.G. and R.Z. revised the manuscript before submission.

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Efficiency chart published by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL): https://www.nrel.gov/pv/assets/pdfs/best-research-cell-efficiencies.20190923.pdf

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Luo, D., Su, R., Zhang, W. et al. Minimizing non-radiative recombination losses in perovskite solar cells. Nat Rev Mater 5, 44–60 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41578-019-0151-y

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