Photovoltaic Process Research Articles

Study on a passive concentrating photovoltaic-membrane distillation integrated system

The traditional photovoltaic-thermal desalination systems generally need to consume produced electricity to power their pumps and fans, thus fail to provide users sufficient household electricity. This paper presents a concentrating photovoltaic-thermal membrane distillation integrated system, innovatively combining concentrating photovoltaic and membrane distillation. Besides producing electricity and fresh water, it is designed with cultivation chambers to directly use the produced water for growing crops. The system could be fully embedded underground and operating passively when tempered glasses are used as its top transparent cover, which can also serve as pavement. In such a way, it has strong resistance to typhoons and saves land sources as well. Here, the system design scheme is introduced. An experimental setup is developed, during which the structural design and optimization method for the concentrator is given, to verify the system’s feasibility. Mathematical models for the photovoltaic and thermal processes are established and well-validated via testing. The maximal overall efficiency is about 42% under solar radiation of 900 W/m2, in which the system’s electrical and water production efficiency is 10% and 32%, respectively. The system also performs well during the whole-day testing. There is more than 40% of solar energy can be utilized on sunny days.

Beyond 3rd generation solar cells and the full spectrum project. Recent advances and new emerging solar cells

Solar cells have over 50-years of development history; many different devices and technologies are studied over this time span, and interestingly it is still a hot research topic. Although the physical mechanisms involved in photovoltaic processes are rather fundamental, the characterization and classification of the research pathways seem complicated and can even lead to misleading argumentation. Various photovoltaic devices are classified as first, second- and third- generation based on the developments for the last 25 years to highlight the development history of diverse photovoltaic technologies. This classification may not be appropriate if the recent developments are considered. Wafer based solar cells are regarded as the first-generation and the thin-film solar cells as the second-generation. In the third-generation solar cells, there are many different applications that might be confusing if a firm classification would not be outlined.In the present article, we comprehensively classified the recent developments on the subject and presented an overall perspective. A brief review of the physics and physical mechanisms are given, and based on these mechanisms, a clear classification is outlined. Then, recent experimental and theoretical researches are presented together with a summary of the related review articles recently appeared in the literature.

Modeling the Effect of Relative Humidity and Precipitation on Photovoltaic Dust Accumulation Processes

Dust is the cause of generation reduction of solar photovoltaic (SPV) modules from the day it is installed. Its deposition depends on geographical location of a module where it is installed, due to difference in meteorological events, causing variation in generation efficiency. In an earlier article, the dry deposition processes are modeled in which effects of relative humidity (RH) and precipitation are not considered. In this article, a more generalized mathematical model for dust deposition under varying humidity and precipitation condition is developed. The increase in deposition with different RH has been investigated using the developed model demonstrating an appreciable effect. The contribution of different types of precipitation is also included. The model based observations are utilized to calculate the energy generation under different meteorological events over a specific period and compared with the measured ones over the same time span from a 10 kWp SPV power plant at IIEST, Shibpur. The deviations are found to be within ±6% establishing the efficacy of the model.

Spin‐Optoelectronic Phenomena for a Semitransparent Nonfullerene Photovoltaic System

A unique feature of nonfullerene acceptors (NFAs) is their strong photoabsorption capability at longer wavelengths and electrostatic potentials (ESPs), which is expected to increase the photocurrent density (J) for bulk heterojunction (BHJ)‐based semitransparent organic solar cells (ST‐OSCs). Indeed, the interior spin‐optoelectronic phenomena are incredibly rich, and it remains challenging to correlate them with a complete photovoltaic process. Here, a prototypical PTB7‐Th: IEICO‐4F‐based ST‐OSC, with an average visible transmittance (AVT) of ≈26.8%, is fabricated for studying the issue (PTB7‐Th: poly[4,8‐bis(5‐(2‐ethylhexyl)thiophen‐2‐yl)benzo[1,2‐b;4,5‐b′]dithiophene‐2,6‐diyl‐alt‐(4‐(2‐ethylhexyl)‐3‐fluorothieno[3,4‐b]thiophene‐)‐2‐carboxylate‐2‐6‐diyl)]; IEICO‐4F: 2,2′‐((2Z,2′Z)‐(((4,4,9,9‐tetrakis(4‐hexylphenyl)‐4,9‐dihydro‐sindaceno[1,2‐b:5,6‐b′]dithiophene‐2,7‐diyl)bis(4‐((2‐ethylhexyl)oxy)thiophene‐5,2‐diyl))bis(methanylylidene))bis(5,6‐difluoro‐3‐oxo‐2,3‐dihydro‐1H‐indene‐2,1‐diylidene))dimalononitrile). Spin‐dependent electron–hole dissociation and charge transport dynamics are systematically studied in the dark condition, the short‐circuit current density (Jsc) condition, and some intermediate stages by the nondestructive in situ magnetophotocurrent (magneto‐J) technique. Some intriguing mechanisms such as the Coulomb blockade–based bipolaron, the spin‐dependent polaron pair dissociation at charge transfer states (CTSs), and the triplet‐polaron reaction are extensively explored in the study. Despite these, the monochromatic light‐induced polarizability is validated to have a remarkable impact on the magnitude of the open circuit voltage (Voc). This work is completely devoted to the spin‐optoelectronic phenomena of the NFA‐based ST‐OSC in working condition.

Simplified detection method of the rear-side weak soldering for monofacial solar cell using electroluminescence quantitative technology

In the series soldering step of photovoltaic module manufacturing process, soldering could be occasionally found weak or missing between busbar and interconnection ribbon. The affected modules have local heating phenomenon in application, which aggravates modules efficiency degradation. Electroluminescence (EL) technology can detect many module defect types including weak soldering. But the grayscale change of EL image is not obvious enough caused by rear-side weak soldering (RWS) compared with front-side weak soldering, especially for monofacial solar cell. RWS is difficult for manual qualitative identification. In this paper, we use EL quantitative technology and simply define deviation percentage (Si) to distinguish types of weak soldering. RWS can be effectively detected through grayscale analysis of EL images under two different bias current conditions, which is verified by experiments and simulation. Further simulation results suggest that higher rear-side lateral resistance leads to lower Si of RWS. This method is instructive for the automatic EL detection in module production line.

An Analytical Effective-Diode-Based Analysis of Industrial Solar Cells From Three-Diode Lumped-Parameter Model

Three-diode lumped-parameter equivalent circuit model conforms to photovoltaic device physics and processes an exact analysis for I- V characteristics of industrial solar cells, because it explains the different leakage current components especially for recombination current resulting from defects or grain boundaries. However, three-diode model's complete circuit topology leads to complicated transcendental I- V equation without analytical solution so that low computation efficiency limits three-diode model's applications in photoelectric simulations. In this article, an effective-diode method is proposed to simplify three-diode model, derive accurate and efficient terminal current-voltage solution to three-diode model, and acquire electrostatic characteristics of the solar cells. The calculated values have good agreements with numerical iteration results and experimental data measured from solar cells, respectively. Finally, the effective-diode method performs an important role of solving three-diode model analytically, predicting I- V characteristics of industrial solar cells accurately, and providing three-diode model's practicability and development in solar cells' simulations.

A submicron Si@C core-shell intertwined with carbon nanowires and graphene nanosheet as a high-performance anode material for lithium ion battery

Silicon is widely used as anode for lithium-ion batteries (LIBs). However, its application is limited due to some problems such as large volume expansion. In this work, silicon waste from wafer slicing via diamond wire saw technology in photovoltaic industry is used as raw materials. A submicron core-shell structure Si@C intertwined with CNWs and graphene nanosheet, is prepared as anode for LIBs by hydrothermal process. The anode retains a specific capacity of 2514.8 mAh g−1 with capacity retention of 75.8% after 360 cycles under a current of 0.1 C and 1548.9 mAh g−1 after 1000 cycles under 0.2 C. In addition, it maintains 1596.9 mAh g−1 (1.0 C), 925.3 mAh g−1 (2.0 C) after several rate testing of 0.1 C to 2.0 C. A COMSOL Multiphysics and MD simulation are performed to examine the lithiation-induced volume expansion of silicon. The results demonstrate that, the lamellar micron silicon can achieve a stable lithium intercalating capacity larger than 2100 mAh g−1, which agrees well with our experimental results. It is demonstrated that the submicron Si from the kerf waste in the photovoltaic slicing process via diamond wire saw technology are available as direct raw materials for high performance anode of LIBs.

Comprehensive energy balance analysis of photon-enhanced thermionic power generation considering concentrated solar absorption distribution

The present article reports a comprehensive energy balance analysis of a photon-enhanced thermionic emission (PETE) device when it is used for concentrated solar power (CSP) generation. To this end, we consider a realistic PETE device composed of a boron-doped silicon emitter on glass and a phosphorus-doped diamond collector on tungsten separated by the interelectrode vacuum gap. Depth-dependent spectral solar absorption and its photovoltaic and photothermal energy conversion processes are rigorously calculated to predict the PETE power output and energy conversion efficiency. Our calculation predicts that when optimized, the power output of the considered PETE device can reach 1.6 W/cm2 with the energy conversion efficiency of ~18% for 100× solar concentration, which is substantially lower than those predicted in previous works under ideal conditions. In addition, the photon-enhancement ratio is lower than 10 and decreases with the increasing solar concentration due to the photothermal heating of the emitter assembly, suggesting that PETE should be more suitable for low-to-medium CSP below ~100× concentration. These observations signify the importance of a rigorous energy balance analysis based on spectral and spatial solar absorption distribution for the accurate prediction of PETE power generation.

Evaluation of Using Photovoltaic Cell in the Electro-Fenton Oxidation for the Removal of Oil Content in Refinery Wastewater

In this study, the refinery wastewater treatment system by the photovoltaic electro-Fenton oxidation process was presented, which integrates the environmentally friendly photovoltaic and autonomous solar energy along with the capability of electro for oil content removing in the refinery wastewater. The direct connection between the photovoltaic panel and the electro-oxidation reactor can be accomplished without using batteries. This connection increases the sustainability of the system and eliminates the environment hazard resulted from the inappropriate disposal of the batteries. The photovoltaic electro-oxidation system is commonly made for multipurpose usage depending on the instantaneous solar irradiation by setting the volume of the wastewater to the supplied current intensity that provided by the photovoltaic array. The effect of several parameters that have critical impacts on the system efficiency of the presented process has studied by the Minitab-17 and the response surface methodology. Speed of agitation, solution electrolysis time, and the temperature have been presented and the optimal levels that corresponds to the optimal conditions were investigated and presented as well. Results of the experimental work showed that the working conditions of the agitation speed was 175 rpm, temperature was 70 oC and 15 min-reaction time, the concentration of oil in the treated refinery wastewater (RWW) was significantly decreased from 96.5 ppm (initial value) to specific values less than 2 ppm (the permissible limit), a removal percentage with an amount more that 98% and 20.4 kWh/m3 for the energy consumption were obtained. The suggested process is suitable for refinery wastewater remediation, especially for small amounts of oil content in RWW.

Effect of electron donor and acceptor on the photovoltaic properties of organic dyes for efficient dye-sensitized solar cells

In this work, the molecular engineering approach was applied to the organic dyes of AE, AQ, TE, and TQ having the donor-acceptor (D-A) configuration to investigate the solar cell efficiency. In these structures, dimethylaniline and triphenylamine were used as the electron donors and 1,1,4,4-tetracyanobuta-1,3-dienes (originating from TCNE) and 2-(4-(4,4-dicyanobut-3-en-2-ylidene)cyclohexa-2,5-dien-1-ylidene)malononitrile (originating from TCNQ) as the electron acceptors. The incorporation of tetracyanoethylene (TCNE) and 7,7,8,8-tetracyanoquinodimethane (TCNQ) due to the strong electron-withdrawing ability enhance the performance of the dye-sensitized solar cell (DSSC). The results reveal that a change in the electron donor and acceptor moieties affects the photovoltaic processes. Also, the dyes having 2-(4-(4,4-dicyanobut-3-en-2-ylidene)cyclohexa-2,5-dien-1-ylidene)malononitrile electron acceptor (AQ and TQ) have better charge transfer indices such as longer charge transfer distance (DCT) and lower overlap of electron-hole distribution (S) in comparison with the dyes having 1,1,4,4-tetracyanobuta-1,3-dienes as an electron acceptor (AE and TE). Moreover, the properties of the absorption spectra indicate that TCNQ-adduct dyes (AQ and TQ) illustrate a red-shift compared with TCNE-adduct dyes (AE and TE) due to the higher ability of the electron-withdrawing. Finally, AQ and TQ dyes are the preferred candidates to improve the efficiency of the studied DSSCs because of higher charge transfer, electron transfer rate constant, and lower chemical hardness.

Characteristics of ZnO nanofiber in double Layer (TiO2 / ZnO) DSSC results of direct deposition electrospinning manufacturing: Variation of tip to collector distance

Solar energy is obtained from sunlight. Solar cells are harvesters of solar energy that are converted into electrical energy through the photovoltaic process. One of solar cell types are Dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSC) based on double layer photoanode which is very attractive to researchers because of its high performance, cheaper, and availability of mass production. The two-layer TiO2-ZnO semiconductor obtained with the nanofiber ZnO semiconductor was deposited directly with the TiO2 nanoparticle semiconductor. The addition of the nanofiber ZnO semiconductor layer is known to reduce the semiconductor band gap value.This present study is to determine the effect of direct deposition of the ZnO layer using electrospinning with variation of the tip distance of the collector. The results showed that the use of ZnO nanofiber layers made by direct deposition on the tip distance is 7 cm to the collector, which produced a small diameter size and uniform morphology. Small and uniform morphology allows DSSC to have better electron excitation. This is directly proportional to the high efficiency of DSSC double layer.

Photoferroelectric perovskite solar cells: Principles, advances and insights

• The structure and property of ferroelectric perovskite are introduced to provide a knowledge for understanding the PPSCs. • Basic aspects of PPSCs are described including the device architecture, working principle and characterization. • The recent advances in PPSCs are discussed, focusing on oxide and halide perovskite materials. • Some strategies are envisioned for developing efficient PPSCs. This review mainly reported photoferroelectric materials including oxide and halide perovskites, and their recent advances in solar cells. The device architecture, working principle and characterization are described, and some strategies are envisioned for developing efficient photoferroelectric perovskite solar cells. Increasing environmental crises caused by exploring and using fossil fuels have compelled human being to develop innovative technologies to utilize renewable and sustainable energy sources. For this purpose, photovoltaic conversion of solar energy into electricity with solar cells is a promising and attracting way in that solar energy is clean and inexhaustible. Nowadays, the bottleneck in the application of solar cells on a large scale to sustainable energy generation still lies in lacking an efficient, stable and low-cost materials system for photon-to-electricity conversion. Perovskite materials are a class of materials widely applied in solar cells. Many evidences showed that the perovskite materials have both ferroelectric and photovoltaic properties, offering a special system called photoferroelectric materials. A built-in electric field established in these materials due to the ferroelectric property is more helpful for the separation of e-h pairs and enhancing the power conversion efficiency during photovoltaic process in solar cells. Here, we review the recent photoferroelectric perovskite solar cells (PPSCs). After giving a brief description of the structure and property of photoferroelectric perovskite materials, the device structures, working principles and characterization of PPSCs are introduced, followed by the state-of-the-art advances and the insights for the PPSCs based on oxide and halide perovskite materials. Finally, the main challenges in developing efficient PPSCs are discussed.

Photoelectrical Dynamics Uplift in Perovskite Solar Cells by Atoms Thick 2D TiS2 Layer Passivation of TiO2 Nanograss Electron Transport Layer

A deficiency in the photoelectrical dynamics at the interface due to the surface traps of the TiO2 electron transport layer (ETL) has been the critical factor for the inferiority of the power conversion efficiency (PCE) in the perovskite solar cells. Despite its excellent energy level alignment with most perovskite materials, its large density of surface defect as a result of sub lattice vacancies has been the critical hurdle for an efficient photovoltaic process in the device. Here, we report that atoms thick 2D TiS2 layer grown on the surface of a (001) faceted and single-crystalline TiO2 nanograss (NG) ETL have effectively passivated the defects, boosting the charge extractability, carrier mobility, external quantum efficiency, and the device stability. These properties allow the perovskite solar cells (PSCs) to produce a PCE as high as 18.73% with short-circuit current density (Jsc), open-circuit voltage (Voc), and fill-factor (FF) values as high as 22.04 mA/cm2, 1.13 V, and 0.752, respectively, a 3.3% improvement from the pristine TiO2-NG-based PSCs. The present approach should find an extensive application for controlling the photoelectrical dynamic deficiency in perovskite solar cells.

Development of a Computer-Assisted Personal Interviewing (CAPI) Methodology to Assist the Photovoltaic Design Process

Computer-Assisted Personal Interviewing (CAPI) is a well-known methodology in the development of social surveys. In this work, CAPI is used to guide the flow of a questionnaire aiming for the acquisition of data and information fundamental to optimise a photovoltaic (PV) design. The questionnaire is implemented in an app, developed in the frame of the PV SPREAD project, which is aimed to support the supplier/designer of PV plants during all the stages of its development. To demonstrate how different choices of a client, specified during the interview with the designer, will have distinct economic results, two configurations are presented. In the first, the system is_allowed to determine and use the optimum inclination angle of the modules, while in the second a low angle is selected by the client, to comply with aesthetic restrictions. The first configuration improves naturally the internal rate of return of the investment, as this is the optimising cost function, but the system allows comparing both ones. The CAPI methodology and its use in the context of PV design show to be a relevant tool to support designers and to provide more informed investments to clients.

The impact of molecular orientation on carrier transfer characteristics at a phthalocyanine and halide perovskite interface.

We have studied the interface properties of metal phthalocyanine (MPc, M = Zn, Cu) molecules at a methylammonium lead iodide (MAPbI3) surface using density functional theory (DFT) based simulations. From the adsorption energies, the face-on orientation is found to have an order of magnitude stronger binding energy than the edge-on orientation, where CuPc binds a little stronger than ZnPc with its closer interfacial distance. Our detailed analysis of interface electronic structure suggests that the edge-on configuration possesses a large energy barrier for the hole transfer from MAPbI3 to MPc molecules. In contrast, the face-on configuration has no such barrier, facilitating the hole transfer, while at the same time the desirable alignment of the conduction band suppresses the electron–hole recombination. Therefore, the face-on configuration is clearly found to be more suitable for the photovoltaic process, in line with the experimental reports. Our work emphasizes the impact of MPc orientation upon perovskite solar cell efficiency besides other factors such as Pc thin film's mobility and morphology, and provides insightful guidance to efficient and stable hole transport layers.

The configuration effect on the exciton dynamics of zinc chlorin aggregates.

Excitonic energy transfer among the zinc chlorin molecules is significant for the photovoltaic process because of their high sensitivities to harvesting sunlight. Zinc chlorin monomers and dimers can be synthesized experimentally, and they can form various self-assembled structures. Using the realistic parameters of zinc chlorin molecules, we assume that 20 molecules with J-, H- or J-H aggregation are arranged in a line and we investigate their dipole configuration effect on exciton dynamics. The expectation value approximation of operators is applied to derive the equations of motion of multi-exciton states. The temporal evolution of multi-exciton states is analyzed in the scheme of density matrix theory. Our simulations show that the inter-molecular coupling results in an exciton band and the wave-packet progressing excited by the resonant laser pulse exhibits attractive or repulsive behavior at the exciton level due to the dipole configuration effect. In the defined J-H coupling, the coherent wave-packet cannot overcome the configuration barrier to the no-excited part. The exciton dynamics revealed here might be helpful to better understand the energy transfer process in organic photovoltaic devices.

Performance improvement of solar PV power conversion system through low duty cycle DC‐DC converter

AbstractCharacteristics like reliability and modularity of solar photovoltaic (SPV) units makes them one of the apt options for generating electric power. However, the input intermittency is their major lacuna, and power electronic circuits are being used to nullify this effect. A solar photovoltaic power conversion process includes a DC‐DC converter in the plant side to deliver a fixed DC voltage and a DC‐AC converter in the grid side for converting DC voltage in to grid compatible AC voltage. The high duty ratio of typical DC‐DC boost converters limits the switching frequency and efficiency. In this article, a way to enhance the performance of a SPV unit using an improved quadratic boost converter (IQBC) is analysed. It can deliver a higher output voltage at lower duty ratio with Perturb and Observe (P&O) algorithm‐based Maximum Power Point Tracking (MPPT). A 250 W prototype of IQBC‐based Solar PV power conversion system (SPVPCS) is developed, and its performance is compared against conventional and quadratic boost converters and found that the IQBC‐based solar power conversion system is efficient and the results are presented.

CHARACTERIZATION OF ZnO NANOFIBER ON DOUBLE-LAYER DYE-SENSITIZED SOLAR CELLS USING DIRECT DEPOSITION METHOD

Solar cells are capable of harvesting energy by converting solar heat into electrical energy through the photovoltaic process. A type of solar cell, namely dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) which based on doublelayer photoanode is attracting researchers and engineers considering its characteristics, e.g., high efficiency, low cost, and available mass-production. The TiO2-ZnO double-layer semiconductor can be obtained from a nanofiber ZnO semiconductor which is deposited with a TiO2 nanoparticle semiconductor. In this study, the direct deposition method was applied using an electrospinning machine. The intention is to directly capture the liquid of electro-jet spun from PVA/Zn(Ac)2 solution onto fluorine-doped tin oxide (FTO) glass. The glass itself is coated with a TiO2 nanoparticle semiconductor. The investigation was addressed to obtain the best tip distance to the collector and the best flow rate in the electrospinning process. The subject environment was designated on the manufacturing process of nanofiber ZnO semiconductors used as double-layer DSSC photoanodes. Variations in flow rates of 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, and 8 μL/minute were applied in the observation. Furthermore, collaboration with the tip to collector distances using a variation of 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, and 8 cm was also considered in this study. Based on these parameters, the effects of the electrospinning process on the morphology of the directly deposited ZnO nanofiber semiconductor were obtained. The results showed that a flow rate of 4 μL/minute and a tip distance to the collector of 8 cm produced a small diameter and uniform morphology. This morphology allowed ZnO nanofibers to have better color absorption and electron excitation. Thus, it was directly proportional to the high efficiency of double-layer DSSCs. The performance value for the 4 μL/min discharge was 2.39%, and the performance value for the 8 cm needle tip distance to the collector was 1.61%.

Karakteristik Temperatur Pada Permukaan Sel Surya Polycrystalline Terhadap Efektifitas Daya Keluaran Pembangkit Listrik Tenaga Surya

Devices that can convert sunlight energy to electrical energy with photovoltaic effect process made of semiconductors are better known as solar cells. Photovoltaic (PV) or better known as solar power plant (PLTS) is also concerned with several factors to maximize solar energy into electrical energy such as the influence of weather, humidity, temperature of solar cell position and wind direction contained on the surface of solar cells. In this study, this solar cell (photovoltaic) was diagnosed as poly-crystalline during sunny and cloudy weather conditions. The results obtained by the test showed the influence of temperature from the surface of solar cells on the value of output power. Maximum power (Pout) at 11.40 WIB with a slope angle of 35° and a temperature of 47.6°C with an output power value of 100.562 Watt. So it can be said that the temperature is influenced by the intensity of solar radiation that will make the power (Pout) increase, the condition of the poly-crystalline solar module will work optimally at a temperature of about 35 °C - 50 ° C measured on the surface of solar cells.

Highly Sensitive and Tunable Self-Powered UV Photodetectors Driven Jointly by p-n Junction and Ferroelectric Polarization.

Ferroelectric (FE) materials are thought to be promising materials for self-powered ultraviolet (UV) photodetector applications because of their photovoltaic effects. However, FE-based photodetectors exhibited poor performance because of the weak photovoltaic effect of FE depolarization field (Edp) on the separation of photo-generated carriers. In this work, self-powered photodetectors based on both Edp and built-in electric field at the p-n junction (Ep-n) were designed to obtain enhanced device performance. A NiO/Pb0.95La0.05Zr0.54Ti0.46O3 (PLZT) heterojunction-based device is constructed to take advantage of energy level alignments that favor electron extraction. The device exhibits a tunable performance upon varying the polarization direction of PLZT. The NiO/PLZT heterojunction-based device with the PLZT layer in the poling down state shows a higher responsivity [R = (1.8 ± 0.12) × 10-4 A/W] and detectivity [D* = (3.69 ± 0.2) × 109 Jones], a faster response speed (τr = 0.34 ± 0.03 s, τd = 0.36 ± 0.02 s), and a lower dark current [Idark = (1.3 ± 0.19) × 10-12 A] under zero bias than the PLZT-based device because of the synergistic effects of Edp and Ep-n. Moreover, under weak-light illumination (0.1 mW/cm2), it exhibits even higher R [(6.3 ± 1.2) × 10-4 A/W] and D* [(1.29 ± 0.26) × 1010 Jones] values, which surpass those of most previously reported FE-based self-powered photodetectors. Our work emphasizes the role of the coupling effect between Ep-n and Edp in the photovoltaic process of NiO/PLZT heterojunction-based devices and provides an effective way to promote the self-powered UV photodetector applications.