Investigations aimed at producing 33% efficient perovskite–silicon tandem solar cells through device simulations

The conversion efficiencies for silicon-based photovoltaic devices have become stagnant, with the record conversion efficiency of 26.7% achieved in 2017. This record efficiency is also close to the theoretical Auger limit of 29.4% for single-junction silicon solar cells. Therefore, it is anticipated that further enhancement in conversion efficiency could only be achieved by adopting multijunction or tandem concepts for silicon PV devices. In this context, perovskites are widely preferred for tandem application with silicon solar cells to mitigate thermalization and non-absorbed photon losses to achieve higher conversion efficiencies. The perovskite–silicon (PVK–Si) tandem design can deliver 45.1% efficiency, and currently, this design holds a record conversion efficiency of 29.5%. Therefore, critical research and development activities are required to unlock the potential of such devices. Thus, we have designed and investigated enhanced hole extraction PVK–Si monolithic tandem solar cells with 33% power conversion efficiency (PCE) to make a humble contribution in this field. The device is facilitated with Me-4PACz and ITO-based ideal tunnel recombination junctions for current matching, with parasitic absorption losses. Detailed standalone and tandem analysis has been carried out in terms of absorber layer thickness variation, illuminated current density–voltage (J–V) curves, external quantum efficiency (EQE), energy band diagrams (EBDs), filtered spectra, filtered integrated power, current matching, and tandem PV parameters to finalize the conversion efficiency. The device constructed using a 1.68 eV perovskite top cell and 1.12 eV c-Si-based heterojunction with an intrinsic thin layer (HIT) based bottom cell showed an open-circuit voltage, V_OC, of as high as 2.02 V. The comprehensive analysis of PVK–Si tandem devices reported in this work may pave the way for developing high-efficiency tandem solar cells in the future.

The conversion efficiencies for silicon-based photovoltaic devices have become stagnant, with the record conversion efficiency of 26.7% achieved in 2017.