Abstract
Double-junction solar devices featuring wide-bandgap and narrow-bandgap sub-cells are capable of boosting performance and efficiency compared to single-junction photovoltaic (PV) technologies. To achieve the best performance of a double-junction device, careful selection and optimization of each sub-cell is crucial. This work presents the investigation of an all-thin-film two-terminal (2T) monolithic homojunction perovskite (PVK)/c-Si tandem cell using Silvaco TCAD simulation. The front sub-cell utilizes homojunction PVK that has a bandgap of 1.72 eV, whereas the rear sub-cell uses thin c-Si with a bandgap of 1.12 eV. Both cells are connected via a p++/n++ silicon tunnel diode. Experimental calibration of the heterojunction PVK and c-Si cells yields power conversion efficiencies (PCE) of 18.106% and 17.416%, respectively. When integrated into an initial PVK/c-Si tandem, the resulting cell achieves a PCE of 29.38%. To compare the performance, the heterojunction PVK layer is replaced with an n-p homojunction PVK layer, revealing the impact of the absence of a surplus built-in electric field in the perovskite film as a strong limiting factor. Further, a thorough investigation of four distinct structures for the n-p homojunction PVK cell is conducted. The four structures include a complete cell, electron transport layer (ETL)-free, hole transport layer (HTL)-free, and carrier transport layer (CTL)-free structures. The results show that the CTL-free structure has significant potential after applying certain optimization techniques that result in reducing surface recombination, enhancing the built-in electric field, and improving light absorption. With the current-matching condition achieved, the tandem efficiency reaches 36.37%.
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Omar M. Saif, Ahmed Shaker, and Yasmine Elogail wrote the original draft, reviewing & editing the main manuscript text. Omar M. Saif and Ahmed Shaker performed the simulation and prepared the figures. Abdelhalim Zekry and Mohamed Abouelatta supervised the work. All authors shared conceptualization, methodology, and validation. All authors reviewed the manuscript.
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Saif, O.M., Shaker, A., Abouelatta, M. et al. Numerical Simulation and Design of All-Thin-Film Homojunction Perovskite/c-Si Tandem Solar Cells. Silicon 16, 2005–2021 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12633-023-02811-x
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12633-023-02811-x