Organic-inorganic halide perovskite based solar cells - revolutionary progress in photovoltaics

Photovoltaic technology has been presented with a great opportunity for development, owing to the recent and unprecedented rapid development of a new-type of solar cell based on organic-inorganic halide perovskites. Their power conversion efficiency (eta) has surpassed 19% since the first perovskite-based solar cell (eta = 3.8%) was reported in 2009. Moreover, this performance seems to be still far from fully optimized because of its versatile fabrication techniques and device configurations. In this review, the history of perovskites for photovoltaic applications and the landmark achievements to date are briefly outlined. Focusing on these new halide perovskite solar absorbers, the crystal structure, electronic structure, and intrinsic physical properties are systematically described, in an attempt to unravel the origins of superior solar cell performance. To meet the requirements of high-efficiency photovoltaics, the unique solar perovskite absorbers and electron and hole transport materials are discussed, as well as some unanswered questions and challenges facing their further development and commercialization.