11 - An Overview of Hybrid Organic–Inorganic Metal Halide Perovskite Solar Cells

Abstract

Perovskite solar cells based on hybrid organic–inorganic metal halides as the light absorber are considered promising material in thin film photovoltaic technology due to their high efficiency, cost effective fabrication techniques, and low material costs. The development of solid-state perovskite solar cells has shown a remarkable improvement over the past 4 years. In 2012, the reported photo-conversion efficiency was about 9.7% and in 2016 it has reached over 22%. The improvement in device performances is attributed to the unique characteristics such as a broad spectral absorption range, very high absorption coefficient, high carrier mobility, longer diffusion length, and longer carrier lifetime. Nonetheless, there are still mysteries about how the solar cells behave during current–voltage measurement and problems related to performance degradation, even in ambient environment. In this chapter, we describe the fundamentals of perovskite materials, optoelectronic properties, thin film and device fabrication, performance improvement, and finally, problems related to the commercialization of perovskite solar cells.