Abstract
In a few years only, solar cells using hybrid organic–inorganic lead halide perovskites as optical absorber have reached record photovoltaic energy conversion efficiencies above 20%. To reach and overcome such values, it is required to tailor both the electrical and optical properties of the device. For a given efficient device, optical optimization overtakes electrical one. Here, we provide a synthetic review of recent works reporting or proposing so-called optical management approaches for improving the efficiency of perovskite solar cells, including the use of anti-reflection coatings at the front substrate surface, the design of optical cavities integrated within the device, the incorporation of plasmonic or dielectric nanostructures into the different layers of the device and the structuration of its internal interfaces. We finally give as outlooks some insights into the less-explored management of the perovskite fluorescence and its potential for enhancing the cell efficiency.
Highlights
Photovoltaic cells based on the emerging hybrid organic–inorganic lead halide perovskites have attracted an increasing attention due to their excellent optoelectronic properties and low cost fabrication procedure
Many approaches involving optical management have already been used to improve the performance of perovskite solar cells
They include the use of anti-reflection coatings at the air/glass interface of the cell, the tuning of the vertical configuration of the cell, the incorporation of plasmonic or dielectric nanostructures into the different layers of the cell and the structuration of the internal interfaces of the cell at the wavelength scale
Summary
Photovoltaic cells based on the emerging hybrid organic–inorganic lead halide perovskites (called hereafter ‘perovskite solar cells’) have attracted an increasing attention due to their excellent optoelectronic properties and low cost fabrication procedure. The low binding energy of perovskite excitons ensures the efficient formation of photogenerated electrons and holes, whose bulk diffusion lengths can reach over hundreds of nano-metres [3] and are mostly limited by the size of the crystalline domains [4] These photogenerated carriers can be efficiently collected by properly designed charge-selective electrodes. The porous scaffold layer is skipped to avoid the costly high-temperature treatment in the device fabrication process Nowadays, both types of cells can reach efficiencies above 20% owing to the careful selection of all functional layers and optimized material preparation method. Light-harvesting enhancement can be achieved by implementing optical management strategies to correct the weaknesses of standard cells This can be useful for developing thinner cells while maintaining a high PCE to moderate the eco-toxicological problem arising from the heavy metal lead present in the devices. In the end of this paper, we highlight these findings and discuss how the perovskite fluorescence relates with the solar cell’s PCEs
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