High irradiance performance of metal halide perovskites for concentrator photovoltaics

Abstract

Traditionally, III–V multi-junction cells have been used in concentrator photovoltaic (CPV) applications, which deliver extremely high efficiencies but have failed to compete with ‘flat-plate’ silicon technologies owing to cost. Here, we assess the feasibility of using metal halide perovskites for CPVs, and we evaluate their device performance and stability under concentrated light. Under simulated sunlight, we achieve a peak efficiency of 23.6% under 14 Suns (that is, 14 times the standard solar irradiance), as compared to 21.1% under 1 Sun, and measure 1.26 V open-circuit voltage under 53 Suns, for a material with a bandgap of 1.63 eV. Importantly, our encapsulated devices maintain over 90% of their original efficiency after 150 h aging under 10 Suns at maximum power point. Our work reveals the potential of perovskite CPVs, and may lead to new PV deployment strategies combining perovskites with low-concentration factor and lower-accuracy solar tracking systems. Metal halide perovskites offer the potential for high-efficiency, low-fabrication-cost solar cells. This study now explores their prospects if deployed in concentrator photovoltaics and finds they perform well up to a concentration of 53 Suns and retain good stability under 10 Suns for over 150 h.