A Comparison of the Structure and Properties of Opaque and Semi-Transparent NIP/PIN-Type Scalable Perovskite Solar Cells

For over a decade, single-junction perovskite solar cells (PSCs) have experienced an unprecedent increase in efficiencies and even offer opportunities to surpass the Shockley-Queisser limit in multijunction configuration. There is consequently an intense need for easily processable semi-transparent PSCs as a basis of affordable tandems. The current study reports the comparison ofnegative-intrinsic-positive(NIP) andpositive-intrinsic-negative(PIN) architectures based on CH3NH3PbI3{Cl}-based perovskite. Both devices could be prepared with the same N-type (SnO(2)nanoparticles) and P-type (poly-triarylamine (PTAA) polymer) materials. Each layer (except for electrodes) was deposited using solvent-based low temperature processes, contrasting with other literature studies, especially SnO(2)for PIN-type purposes. A thorough experimental comparison of the two architectures reveals rather similar optical and structural properties for perovskites, whether deposited on an N- or P-type underlayer, with also comparable efficiencies in the final devices. A compatible deposition process for sputtered indium tin oxide (ITO) as a semi-transparent electrode was then performed for both architectures. Upon varying the illuminated devices' side, the semi-transparent cells exhibited different photocurrent behaviors, the magnitude of which depended on the device's architecture. In conclusion, despite slightly better efficiencies for the semi-transparent NIP-type devices, the semi-transparent PIN-type counterparts also appear to be optically attractive for (two-terminal) tandem applications.