Historical Analysis of High‐Efficiency, Large‐Area Solar Cells: Toward Upscaling of Perovskite Solar Cells

• Published in: Advanced materials (Weinheim) Vol. 32; no. 51; pp. e2002202 - n/a
• Main Authors: Lee, Sang‐Won, Bae, Soohyun, Kim, Donghwan, Lee, Hae‐Seok
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Germany Wiley Subscription Services, Inc 01-12-2020
• Subjects: Commercialization; Dye-sensitized solar cells; Efficiency; Gallium; Historical analysis; large‐area solar cells; Materials science; Modules; perovskite solar cells; Perovskites; Photovoltaic cells; Silicon; thin film solar cells; thin film solar cells; large-area solar cells; perovskite solar cells; historical analysis
• ISSN: 0935-9648; 1521-4095
• DOI: 10.1002/adma.202002202

The status and problems of upscaling research on perovskite solar cells, which must be addressed for commercialization efforts to be successful, are investigated. An 804 cm2 perovskite solar module has been reported with 17.9% efficiency, which is significantly lower than the champion perovskite solar cell efficiency of 25.2% reported for a 0.09 cm2 aperture area. For the realization of upscaling high‐quality perovskite solar cells, the upscaling and development history of conventional silicon, copper indium gallium sulfur/selenide and CdTe solar cells, which are already commercialized with modules of sizes up to ≈25 000 cm2, are reviewed. GaAs, organic, dye‐sensitized solar cells and perovskite/silicon tandem solar cells are also reviewed. The similarities of the operating mechanisms between the various solar cells and the origin of different development pathway are investigated, and the ideal upscaling direction of perovskite solar cells is subsequently proposed. It is believed that lessons learned from the historical analysis of various solar cells provide a fundamental diagnosis of relative and absolute development status of perovskite solar cells. The unique perspective proposed here can pave the way toward the upscaling of perovskite solar cells.
Lessons learned from the historical analysis of diverse solar cells provide a fundamental diagnosis of the relative and absolute development status of perovskite solar cells. The upscaling of perovskite solar cells and commercialization of various solar cells are comparatively analyzed and feasible technologies that can be applied to the perovskite upscaling process, both now and in the future, are suggested.