Improving the efficiency of silicon solar cells using in situ fabricated perovskite quantum dots as luminescence downshifting materials

Luminescence downshifting (LDS) layer integration has been proven to be an efficient way to ameliorate the poor UV-blue spectral response and improve the power conversion efficiency (PCE) for solar cells (SCs). By employing an in situ fabricated CH3NH3PbBr3 (CH3NH3 = methylammonium, MAPbBr(3)) quantum dot/polyacrylonitrile (PAN) composite film as the LDS layer, we observed a clear enhancement in the external quantum efficiency (EQE) for silicon SCs, predominantly in the UV-blue region. With a theoretically calculated intrinsic LDS efficiency (eta(LDS)) of up to 72%, silicon SCs with the LDS layer exhibited an absolute value of 1% for PCE improvement in comparison to those without the LDS layer. The combination of easy fabrication and low cost makes it a practical way to achieve photovoltaic enhancement of Si-based SCs.