Perovskite Solar Cells: From the Atomic Level to Film Quality and Device Performance

• Published in: Angewandte Chemie International Edition Vol. 57; no. 10; pp. 2554 - 2569
• Main Authors: Saliba, Michael, Correa‐Baena, Juan‐Pablo, Grätzel, Michael, Hagfeldt, Anders, Abate, Antonio
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Germany Wiley Subscription Services, Inc 01-03-2018
• Edition: International ed. in English
• Subjects: Commercialization; Current carriers; ion migration; Perovskite solar cells; Perovskites; Photovoltaic cells; photovoltaics; renewable energy; solar cell stability; Solar cells; renewable energy; solar cell stability; ion migration; photovoltaics; Perovskite solar cells
• ISSN: 1433-7851; 1521-3773
• DOI: 10.1002/anie.201703226

Organic–inorganic perovskites have made tremendous progress in recent years due to exceptional material properties such as high panchromatic absorption, charge carrier diffusion lengths, and a sharp optical band edge. The combination of high‐quality semiconductor performance with low‐cost deposition techniques seems to be a match made in heaven, creating great excitement far beyond academic ivory towers. This is particularly true for perovskite solar cells (PSCs) that have shown unprecedented gains in efficiency and stability over a time span of just five years. Now there are serious efforts for commercialization with the hope that PSCs can make a major impact in generating inexpensive, sustainable solar electricity. In this Review, we will focus on perovskite material properties as well as on devices from the atomic to the thin film level to highlight the remaining challenges and to anticipate the future developments of PSCs.
Perovskite solar cells have emerged as a low‐cost, thin‐film technology with unprecedented efficiency gains that challenge the quasi‐paradigm that high efficiency photovoltaics must come at high costs. Perovskites can be processed via inexpensive solution methods and have exceptional material properties that are comparable to established materials such as CdTe, GaAs, or Si. Remarkably, perovskites have a continuously tuneable band gap from 1 to 3 eV enabling applications far beyond photovoltaics.