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High-performance perovskite/Cu(In,Ga)Se2 monolithic tandem solar cells

Qifeng Han https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0127-181X [email protected], Yao-Tsung Hsieh https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0690-3895, Lei Meng https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2775-362X, Jyh-Lih Wu https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1385-3999, Pengyu Sun https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2748-3308, En-Ping Yao, Sheng-Yung Chang https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4369-9766, Sang-Hoon Bae, Takuya Kato https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9366-7458, Veronica Bermudez https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7838-7204, and Yang Yang https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8833-7641 [email protected]
Science • 31 Aug 2018 • Vol 361, Issue 6405 • pp. 904-908 • DOI: 10.1126/science.aat5055
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Perovskite/CIGS tandem cells

Tandem solar cells can boost efficiency by using more of the available solar spectrum. Han et al. fabricated a two-terminal tandem cell with an inorganicorganic hybrid perovskite top layer and a Cu(In,Ga)Se2 (CIGS) bottom layer. Control of the roughness of the CIGS surface and the use of a heavily doped organic hole transport layer were crucial to achieve a 22.4% power conversion efficiency. The unencapsulated tandem cells maintained almost 90% of their efficiency after 500 hours of operation under ambient conditions.
Science, this issue p. 904

Abstract

The combination of hybrid perovskite and Cu(In,Ga)Se2 (CIGS) has the potential for realizing high-efficiency thin-film tandem solar cells because of the complementary tunable bandgaps and excellent photovoltaic properties of these materials. In tandem solar device architectures, the interconnecting layer plays a critical role in determining the overall cell performance, requiring both an effective electrical connection and high optical transparency. We used nanoscale interface engineering of the CIGS surface and a heavily doped poly[bis(4-phenyl)(2,4,6-trimethylphenyl)amine] (PTAA) hole transport layer between the subcells that preserves open-circuit voltage and enhances both the fill factor and short-circuit current. A monolithic perovskite/CIGS tandem solar cell achieved a 22.43% efficiency, and unencapsulated devices under ambient conditions maintained 88% of their initial efficiency after 500 hours of aging under continuous 1-sun illumination.
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Supplementary Material

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Materials and Methods
Figs. S1 to S12
Tables S1 and S2
References (50)

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Science
Volume 361 | Issue 6405
31 August 2018

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Copyright © 2018, American Association for the Advancement of Science.
This is an article distributed under the terms of the Science Journals Default License.

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Received: 5 March 2018
Accepted: 27 June 2018
Published in print: 31 August 2018

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Acknowledgments

We thank T. Moriarty (National Renewable Energy Laboratory) for conducting device measurements and providing valuable discussions on I-V and EQE results; G. Li, J.-W. Lee, and O. Lin for constructive technical discussion; and N. De Marco for editing. We thank UCLA Nanoelectronics Research Facility for assistance with CMP equipment and supplies. Funding: This work is financially supported by grants from the National Science Foundation (grant no. ECCS-1509955; program director: N. El-Masry), and the Air Force Office of Scientific Research (grant no. FA9550-15-1-0333; program manager: C. Lee) Author contributions: Q.H. and Y.-T.H. conceived the experiments, performed data analysis, and wrote the manuscript. L.M. developed the hole transport layer and assisted in perovskite fabrication. J.-L.W., T.K., and V.B. led the fabrication of the CIGS solar cell. P.S. performed the optical modeling. E.-P.Y. assisted with the measurement data analysis. S.-Y.C. assisted in CIGS surface analysis. S.-H.B. assisted in polishing processes. All authors discussed the results and commented on the manuscript. Y.Y. directed and supervised the entire research. Competing interests: All authors declare no competing interests. Data and materials availability: All data are available in the manuscript and the supplementary materials.

Authors

Affiliations

Qifeng Han*,† https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0127-181X [email protected]
Department of Materials Science and Engineering, University of California–Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA.
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Yao-Tsung Hsieh† https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0690-3895
Department of Materials Science and Engineering, University of California–Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA.
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Lei Meng† https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2775-362X
Department of Materials Science and Engineering, University of California–Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA.
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Jyh-Lih Wu https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1385-3999
Atsugi Research Center, Solar Frontier K.K., Atsugi, Kanagawa 243-0206, Japan.
View all articles by this author
Pengyu Sun https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2748-3308
Department of Materials Science and Engineering, University of California–Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA.
View all articles by this author
En-Ping Yao
Department of Materials Science and Engineering, University of California–Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA.
View all articles by this author
Sheng-Yung Chang https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4369-9766
Department of Materials Science and Engineering, University of California–Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA.
View all articles by this author
Sang-Hoon Bae
Department of Materials Science and Engineering, University of California–Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA.
View all articles by this author
Takuya Kato https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9366-7458
Atsugi Research Center, Solar Frontier K.K., Atsugi, Kanagawa 243-0206, Japan.
View all articles by this author
Veronica Bermudez https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7838-7204
Atsugi Research Center, Solar Frontier K.K., Atsugi, Kanagawa 243-0206, Japan.
View all articles by this author
Yang Yang* https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8833-7641 [email protected]
Department of Materials Science and Engineering, University of California–Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA.
View all articles by this author

Funding Information

Notes

*Corresponding author. Email: [email protected] (Y.Y.); [email protected] (Q.H.)
†
These authors contributed equally to this work.

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