Abstract
A Monte Carlo analysis shows that the present cost of synthesizing colloidal quantum dots (QDs) is prohibitively high for photovoltaic (PV) applications.
Highlights
PbS quantum dots (QDs) – Hot injection synthesis using PbO and TMS-S (Yarema, 2017)15 – Hot injection synthesis using PbAc and TMS-S (Chang, 2013)17 – Hot injection synthesis using PbO and thiourea (Hendricks, 2015)16 – Hot injection synthesis using PbCl2 and sulfur (Moreels, 2011)20 – Continuous flow synthesis using PbO and TMS-S (Pan, 2013)14 – Heat-up synthesis using PbCl2 and TMS-S (Zhang, 2014)13 – Heat-up synthesis using PbCl2 and TAA (Huang, 2017)[21] CsPbI3 QDs – Hot injection synthesis using Cs2CO3 and PbI2 (Sanehira, 2017)[3] We evaluate the cost of 2 ink preparation methods for PbS QDs, one using PbX2 and ammonium acetate (AA) (Liu, 2016)[1] and another using PbI2 only (Aqoma, 2017).[2]
Modeled costs for all QD synthesis, ink preparation, and PV module manufacturing sequences are presented in Fig. 2 and Tables S2, S4 (ESI†)
Even using the lowest-cost synthetic method, the cost per watt for PbS QDs is a significant fraction of the production cost per watt of silicon PV modules, and both are far exceeded by the modeled cost for CsPbI3 QDs
Summary
PV markets, the module cost per watt must be significantly lower than crystalline silicon (c-Si) PV, for which module prices have dropped below 0.40 $ per W.8 Achieving this target will likely require each layer in the device stack to reach negligible costs (o0.05 $ per W), given the high cost of encapsulants and other balance-of-module components.[9] Low. Analysis material costs can be readily achieved with polycrystalline perovskite thin films. A total cost of 0.07 $ per m2 to 1.15 $ per m2 has been calculated for MAPbI3 precursors9,10—equivalent to o0.01 $ per W for aperture-area efficiencies of over 10% Reaching such low costs may be difficult for colloidal QDs, which must be synthesized prior to deposition
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