Proton‐Radiation Tolerant All‐Perovskite Multijunction Solar Cells

Abstract

AbstractRadiation‐resistant but cost‐efficient, flexible, and ultralight solar sheets with high specific power (W g−1) are the “holy grail” of the new space revolution, powering private space exploration, low‐cost missions, and future habitats on Moon and Mars. Herein, this study investigates an all‐perovskite tandem photovoltaic (PV) technology that uses an ultrathin active layer (1.56 µm) but offers high power conversion efficiency, and discusses its potential for high‐specific‐power applications. This study demonstrates that all‐perovskite tandems possess a high tolerance to the harsh radiation environment in space. The tests under 68 MeV proton irradiation show negligible degradation (<6%) at a dose of 1013 p+ cm−2 where even commercially available radiation‐hardened space PV degrade >22%. Using high spatial resolution photoluminescence (PL) microscopy, it is revealed that defect clusters in GaAs are responsible for the degradation of current space‐PV. By contrast, negligible reduction in PL of the individual perovskite subcells even after the highest dose studied is observed. Studying the intensity‐dependent PL of bare low‐gap and high‐gap perovskite absorbers, it is shown that the VOC, fill factor, and efficiency potentials remain identically high after irradiation. Radiation damage of all‐perovskite tandems thus has a fundamentally different origin to traditional space PV.