An international research team from the University of Tabriz in Iran and Bilkent University in Turkey has developed an inverted all-perovskite bilayer solar cell design with a power conversion efficiency of 24.83% by incorporating innovative materials and optimizing light absorption across a wide spectrum.

The researchers focused on developing bilayer heterojunctions with different perovskite materials to enhance light absorption in various spectrum regions.

Under standard illumination conditions, the team’s simulations demonstrated positive performance metrics for the inverted all-perovskite bilayer cell.

It achieved a power conversion efficiency of 24.83%, an open-circuit voltage of 0.9 V, and a short-circuit current density of 34.76 mA/cm2.

The top absorber utilizes methylammonium lead iodide, a type of lead-halide perovskite, while the bottom absorber comprises a perovskite material with formamidinium, methylammonium, tin, lead, and iodide.

Together these absorbers were proven to optimize the cell’s performance.

The study, titled “Performance analyses of highly efficient inverted all-perovskite bilayer solar cell,” was published in Scientific Reports.

Using a simulation tool developed by the University of Ghent, the team conducted extensive simulations to refine the cell design.

By adjusting the absorber layers’ parameters and the contacts’ work function, they achieved improved performance. Additionally, they discovered that temperature significantly impacts the functionality of the bilayer cell.

The team found that the thickness of the two layers plays a crucial role in the cell’s performance, emphasizing that the wide bandgap absorber layer should be thinner than the narrow bandgap.

Optimal thicknesses of 100 nm and 600 nm were identified for methylammonium lead iodide and formamidinium, methylammonium, tin, lead, and iodide, respectively.

This breakthrough in solar cell design represents a significant stride toward more efficient and sustainable solar energy and holds potential for large-scale implementation.

Last December, researchers from the Fraunhofer Institute of Solar Energy Systems (ISE) collaborated with industry partners to achieve an efficiency of 22.55% in a perovskite-silicon tandem solar cell measuring over 100 square centimeters.

Earlier in the month, scientists at the Swiss Laboratories for Material Science & Technology, Empa, claimed to have developed a low-temperature method using silver to produce a bifacial perovskite-copper indium gallium selenide tandem solar cell.