High irradiance performance of metal halide perovskites for concentrator photovoltaics

Traditionally, III–V multi-junction cells have been used in concentrator photovoltaic (CPV) applications, which deliver extremely high efficiencies but have failed to compete with ‘flat-plate’ silicon technologies owing to cost. Here, we assess the feasibility of using metal halide perovskites for C...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inNature energy Vol. 3; no. 10; pp. 855 - 861
Main Authors Wang, Zhiping, Lin, Qianqian, Wenger, Bernard, Christoforo, M. Greyson, Lin, Yen-Hung, Klug, Matthew T., Johnston, Michael B., Herz, Laura M., Snaith, Henry J.
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published London Nature Publishing Group 01.10.2018
Subjects
Concentrators
Irradiance
Maximum power
Metal halides
Open circuit voltage
Performance evaluation
Perovskites
Photovoltaic cells
Photovoltaics
Stability analysis
Tracking systems
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Summary:Traditionally, III–V multi-junction cells have been used in concentrator photovoltaic (CPV) applications, which deliver extremely high efficiencies but have failed to compete with ‘flat-plate’ silicon technologies owing to cost. Here, we assess the feasibility of using metal halide perovskites for CPVs, and we evaluate their device performance and stability under concentrated light. Under simulated sunlight, we achieve a peak efficiency of 23.6% under 14 Suns (that is, 14 times the standard solar irradiance), as compared to 21.1% under 1 Sun, and measure 1.26 V open-circuit voltage under 53 Suns, for a material with a bandgap of 1.63 eV. Importantly, our encapsulated devices maintain over 90% of their original efficiency after 150 h aging under 10 Suns at maximum power point. Our work reveals the potential of perovskite CPVs, and may lead to new PV deployment strategies combining perovskites with low-concentration factor and lower-accuracy solar tracking systems.
ISSN:2058-7546
2058-7546
DOI:10.1038/s41560-018-0220-2