Prospects of light management in perovskite/silicon tandem solar cells

Perovskite/silicon tandem solar cells are regarded as a promising candidate to surpass current efficiency limits in terrestrial photovoltaics. Tandem solar cell efficiencies meanwhile reach more than 29%. However, present high-end perovskite/silicon tandem solar cells still suffer from optical losses. We review recent numerical and experimental perovskite/silicon tandem solar cell studies and analyse the applied measures for light management. Literature indicates that highest experimental efficiencies are obtained using fully planar perovskite top cells, being in contradiction to the outcome of optical simulations calling for textured interfaces. The reason is that the preferred perovskite top cell solution-processing is often incompatible with usual micropyramidal textures of silicon bottom cells. Based on the literature survey, we propose a certain gentle nanotexture as an example to reduce optical losses in perovskite/silicon tandem solar cells. Optical simulations using the finite-element method reveal that an intermediate texture between top and bottom cell does not yield an optical benefit when compared with optimized planar designs. A double-side textured top-cell design is found to be necessary to reduce reflectance losses by the current density equivalent of 1 mA/cm(2). The presented results illustrate a way to push perovskite/silicon tandem solar cell efficiencies beyond 30% by improved light management.

Automated summary

Perovskite/silicon tandem solar cells have shown promise in surpassing current efficiency limits in terrestrial photovoltaics, with efficiencies reaching over 29%. However, high-end perovskite/silicon tandem solar cells still face optical losses, and the preferred planar perovskite top cell solution-processing is often incompatible with the usual micropyramidal textures of silicon bottom cells. Research suggests that an intermediate texture design does not yield an optical benefit compared to optimized planar designs.