Abstract

With rapid progress in light-to-electric conversion efficiencies, perovskite solar cells (PSCs) have exhibited great potential as next-generation low-cost, efficient photovoltaic technology. In this perspective, we briefly review the development of PSCs from discovery to laboratory research to commercializing progress. The past several decades have witnessed great achievement in device efficiency and stability due to tremendous research efforts on compositional, process, and interfacial engineering. Regarding commercial applications, we expound the merits and disadvantages of PSCs compared to the existing silicon photovoltaic technologies. Although PSCs promise solution processability and low manufacturing cost, their limited stability and element toxicity should to be addressed on the path to commercialization. Finally, we provide future perspectives on commercialization of PSCs in the photovoltaic marketplace. It is suggested that PSCs will be more promising in low-cost modules and tandem configurations.
Emergence of Perovskite Solar Cells
Metal halide perovskites (MHPs) have attracted intensive attention as promising photovoltaic materials during the last few decades. The term of “Perovskite” is employed to describe a class of materials with the same crystal structure as the mineral calcium titanate (CaTiO3), which was firstly discovered in the Ural Mountains of Russia in 1839 and named after Lev Perovski, a renowned Russian mineralogist (). Now, MHPs have developed into a broad range of materials with the general formula ABX3, where A and B are monovalent and divalent cations, respectively and X stands for anions. Besides, MHPs have been widely used as active materials in various optical and electronic applications, such as photovoltaic devices (PV) (; ; ; ), light-emitting diode (; ; Lin et al., 2018), photodetector (Li et al., 2020a; Li et al., 2020b), laser (Sutherland and Sargent, 2016; Wei et al., 2019), sensor (Zaza et al., 2019; ), biomedicine (; Zhang et al., 2021; ) etc.
The first demonstration of the photovoltaic effect on perovskite materials dates back to 2009 by Miyaska and his co-works, but the power conversion efficiency (PCE) was only 3.8% (). Although the performance of perovskite solar cells (PSCs) was low at that time, the strong optical absorption of perovskite materials attracted widespread attention in academic circles. However, these cells suffered from rapid degradation of perovskite materials in the liquid electrolyte. In 2012, important breakthroughs in PSCs were realized by (; ). In these works, all-solid device configurations were reported with Spiro-MeOTAD [2,2′,7,7′-tetrakis (N,N-di-p-methoxyphenylamine)-9,9′-spirobifluorene] as the hole transport layer to solve the instability problem in liquid electrolytes. The PCEs of about 10% have been reported with improved operation stability. Now, the most recent world record for single-junction PSCs has reached 25.6%, claimed by researchers at South Korea’s Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology (UNIST) (). As demonstrated in Figure 1, the laboratory efficiency of PSCs is comparable to that of the first-generation monocrystalline silicon solar cell that takes about 40 years for this level.
FIGURE 1
In addition, perovskites have been demonstrated as promising candidates in multi-junction cells due their easily tunable bandgap through constituents (; ; ; Lin et al., 2022; Qin et al., 2022). The state-of-the-art perovskite-on-silicon tandem solar cell has achieved a PCE of 29.52% in Oxford PV on approximately 30 × 30 cm2 device area (). More recently, the all-perovskite tandem solar cell with a certified efficiency of 26.4% has also been reported by (Lin et al., 2022).
Perovskite materials are excellent light absorbers with outstanding optoelectronic properties such as high light absorption coefficient, long carrier diffusion length (exceeding 1 mm), low non-radiative recombination loss and high defect tolerance (Stranks et al., 2013; Xing et al., 2013; ; ). The theoretical limit of single-junction PSCs is about 33%, and that of tandem solar cells can reach over 40%. Along with ease of accessibility through low-cost solution processes, there is no doubt that PSCs have become one of the most promising photovoltaic technologies. Since reported in 2009, it was rated as one of the ten scientific breakthroughs by Science. Next year, it was elected as one of the most anticipated scientific and technological breakthroughs by Nature. In the World Economic Forum of 2016, PSCs were honored as one of the top 10 emerging technologies that would break the limitations of silicon-based photovoltaics. In a world, perovskite materials have become a hot topic in both academic and industrial fields.
Research Progress
Since reported in 2009, intensive research efforts have been made to improve the efficiency of PSCs, including compositional, process and interfacial engineering. Perovskite photovoltaic materials are ionic compounds in the general formula of ABX3, as shown in Figure 2A. The crystallographic structure can be deduced by the Goldschmidt tolerance factor () and the octahedral factor () (Li et al., 2008). For applications in solar cells, MHPs commonly are obtained with t and µ in the range of 0.81–1.1 and 0.44–0.9, respectively. Despite these constraints, a broad range of ions enables good results. For example, cation A has methylammonium MA+, formamidinium FA+ and cesium (Cs+) and other long-chain organic cations, metallic cation B has universally been Pb2+ or Sn2+ and anion X is halide ions (Cl−, Br−, I−) or Pseudo-halide ions.
FIGURE 2
The optoelectronic properties of MHPs are strongly correlated with ion species. Firstly, the bandgap can be continuously tuned in the range of almost the whole visible spectrum by X-site halide mixing (Noh et al., 2013;
The prerequisite for high-efficiency device is to fabricate high-quality perovskite films with a flat and compact morphology. To date, numerous processing techniques have been developed to prepare high-quality perovskite films, including vacuum deposition, one-step solution deposition (antisolvent dripping, solvent-assisted annealing, and precursor engineering), two-step sequential deposition and vapor-assisted deposition. Among these methods, solution processes are promising with low temperature and cost, compatible with flexible electronics. Furthermore, scaling-up methods (slot-die coating, roll-to-roll, and inkjet printing) have also been developed for the industrial manufacturing of PSCs in the future.
Vacuum Deposition
The vacuum deposition method was firstly reported by Mitzi and co-workers, in which organic-inorganic compounds were rapidly heated to sublimate, then deposited on the substrate (Mitzi et al., 1999). This technique allows facile control over the film composition and thickness with high reproducibility. With the rapid development of PSCs, Snaith et al. employed dual-source co-evaporation to deposit a uniform MAPbI3-xClx perovskite layer and a PCE of 15% was reported (Figure 3A) (Liu et al., 2013). The perovskite films fabricated by vacuum deposition were proven to be high-quality with excellent film uniformity. Although the vacuum deposition requires expensive equipment, it still holds the advantages of fabricating large-area films without using toxic solvents. This makes it very promising in the production of the perovskite module. Recently, vacuum deposition has witnessed further progress in the perovskites materials including mixed halide (Longo et al., 2018), narrow-bandgap (
FIGURE 3

(A) Dual-source thermal evaporation. Adapted from Liu et al. (2013) with permission from Nature springer. (B) One-step and two-step solution process for perovskite film growth. Adapted from
One-Step Solution Deposition
One-step solution deposition is a commonly used method for fabricating perovskite films in labs. In this method, the precursor solutions are prepared by mixing precursors in solvents such as N, N-dimethylformamide (DMF), then spin-coated on the substrates, followed by thermal annealing to initialize the crystallization (
Two-Step Solution Deposition
Besides one-step solution deposition, two-step sequential deposition is another commonly used method to obtain perovskite films with improved reproducibility (
Vapor-Assisted Deposition
This method was firstly proposed by Chen et al. in which in-situ reaction between the as-deposited PbI2 (solid) and MAI vapor was adopted to obtain perovskite films with full coverage and smooth surface, as schematically illustrated in Figure 3C (
For commercializing PSCs, the large-scale process method has attracted more attention in recent years. With the development of large-area coating methods, including blade, slot-die and spray coating, the roll-roll (R2R) printed process has been suggested to realize the upscaling of PSCs with low cost and high-throughput (Yang et al., 2021). At first, a sequential slot-die method was developed to fabricate large-area PSCs with a PCE up to 11.96% (
Besides compositional and process engineering, interfacial engineering has also contributed to the rapid progress in the efficiency and stability of PSCs. Interfacial engineering mainly focuses on charge transport layers (CTLs) together with interfacial modifications. CTLs play important roles in PSCs, which can not only promote the photogenerated carrier extraction but also suppress the non-radiative recombination. An effective CTL should meet the following requirements: first, matched energy level for the charge extraction from perovskite layer; second, high transparency to avoid energy loss of solar light; and finally, high hole/electron mobility, and the blocking ability of the counter carrier (Ouyang et al., 2019).
Mesoporous TiO2 and small molecule Spiro-MeOTAD were used as effective electron transport layer (ETL) and hole transport layer (HTL) in the pioneering works (
An important aspect of interfacial engineering is the impact of CTLs on perovskite formation. According to the Gibbs free energy [∆G_het = ∆G_hom × f(θ)], nucleation is determined by the interfacial free energy ∆G and wetting angle θ. Adjusting surface energy can control the nucleation and growth process of perovskite materials. Generally, hydrophilic CTLs lead to homogenous nucleation, resulting in perovskite films with high coverage and uniformity. On the contrary, hydrophobic surfaces reduce the nucleation, favoring the growth of large grain size. Huang et al. reported the growth of perovskite grains on non-wetting surfaces (
FIGURE 4

(A) The nucleation and growth of the grains on wetting and non-wetting surface. Adapted from
The interfaces between CTLs and perovskite layers are crucial for PSCs, but imperfect with various trap states, which gives rise to intensive research on interfacial modifications. As early as 2014, Zhou et al. demonstrated that the electron extraction process was improved by modifying the interface with polyethyleneimine ethoxylated (Zhou et al., 2014), as shown in Figure 4B. These modifications led to a maximum cell efficiency of over 19%. Furthermore, deep trap states at the interfaces need to be suppressed to reduce interfacial non-radiative recombination loss. Chen et al. proposed that interfacial chlorine avoided the formation of deep delocalized states at the TiO2/perovskite interface (Tan et al., 2017). The interfacial recombination was mitigated by the contact passivation strategy. A similar effect was also observed on alkali chloride treated NiOx/perovskite interfaces that delivered improved ordering and reduced defect density (
Industrial Progress of PSCs
In 2022, the perovskite-on-silicon tandem solar cell hits the world-record efficiency of 29.5% in Oxford Photovoltaics (Oxford PV), which has been certified by National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) (
At the same time, photovoltaic companies in China have been devoted to the scale-up production of PSCs. Hangzhou Microquanta Co. Ltd.’s firstly established the production line of 20 MW with 200–800 cm perovskite solar cell modules and achieved 11.98% PCE, breaking the previous world record held by Toshiba. In 2019, Suzhou GCL Nano Technology Co., Ltd. (GCL Nano), a subsidiary of GCL group, built a 10 MW production line for large-area perovskite modules, and completed the material synthesis and manufacturing process. Later, GCL announced to develop the product line of 100 MW production line and planned to realize the commercial production of perovskite modules. GCL Nano announced to achieve the PCE of 15.21% on an effective area of 1,241.16 cm2. Besides, the Jayu Group and its subsidiary Jayu Solar Energy Technology Co., Ltd. also pay considerable attention to the commercialization of the third-generation perovskite photovoltaic technology, and plan a new layout in their future production bases.
With the target of carbon neutrality in 2060, it is scheduled that non-fossil energy should account for 25% in 2030, and renewable energy capacity should increase to 1.2 billion KW or more. Next decade, the photovoltaic industry should reach 70–90 million KW per year compared with 50 million per year in the past 5 years.
Merits and Future Challenges
Perovskite materials have advantages as photovoltaics such as light absorption coefficient up 104 cm−1, long carrier diffusion length and solution processability. For example, MAPbI3 perovskites have covered a wide solar light range up to 800 nm with high light absorption coefficient. The use of FA+ cation extends the absorption edge to 840 nm, leading to remarkable photocurrent comparable to silicon solar cells (
However, there are still limitations that impede the commercialization of PSCs, for example, lead toxicity and long-term stability. Light-induced degradation of perovskites under operating conditions including moisture, oxygen, heat and current stress has become the major concern for outdoor applications of PSCs (
Another concern with perovskite-based photovoltaic technology is the toxicity of lead. Although it has been proposed that one of the main reasons for excellent optoelectronic properties in perovskite materials is the orbital overlap of Pb and I ions, the actual content of lead in PSCs is still lower than that in commercial modules. It is estimated that a perovskite cell module only contains 2 g of lead, while the value of a crystalline silicon cell module is 16 g. Furthermore, encapsulation and recycling techniques have been developed to prevent lead pollution. Obviously, the use of lead inevitably causes the risk of environmental pollution and increases the additional cost in the recycling process. Scientists have always been looking for ideal elements to replace lead in perovskite materials. Tin (Sn) is one of the potential elements to avoid the use of lead, but it is companied by the instability issue because of the oxidation of Sn2+ to Sn4+.
Future Prospects of the Commercialization
In the past several years, the manufacturing costs of silicon solar cells have dropped significantly that makes it possible to use photovoltaics as the large-scale clean energy supply to replace the fossil fuels. Many studies suggest that the solar energy can completely compete with conventional plants when the cost is below than 32 cents/W in well-equipped regions with sufficient solar light. However, the silicon based photovoltaic technology has approached its cost-effective limit due to thermalization loss, low absorption coefficient, and high material requirements. PSCs provides opportunities to go well beyond silicon based photovoltaic technology. Compare with silicon based photovoltaic technology that requires highly pure raw materials (99.999%), PSCs can be manufactured with relatively low purity (> 99%). More importantly, perovskite films are fabricated by low temperature solution routes that result into less power assumption and environmental pollution. Although the second-generation gallium arsenide thin-film solar cell has higher PCEs of about 30%, the cost is extremely high. It is expected that the manufacturing cost of perovskite modules would be 50% lower than that of monocrystalline silicon. However, it is difficult to displace silicon solar cells in photovoltaic market due to the lack of demonstrated production line. Alternatively, the perovskite-on-silicon tandem configuration should be one of promising technological routes in industrial progress of PSCs. The ease of tuning the bandgap of perovskites and compatible processes make them ideal wide-bandgap materials in the silicon based multi-junction solar cells, although there are some challenges in the transparent conductive layers, tunnel junctions, and light utilization (Li and Zhang, 2020). In the commercialization of PSCs, the supply chain for manufacturing is shorter, and large-scale coating equipment can be developed rapidly. The key technologies for large-area flexible perovskite solar photovoltaic cells will be achieved in about 3 years. The pathways of PSCs from the laboratory to market are emerging with numerous the efforts in academic and industrial field. The commercialization of PSCs is estimated to give rise to at least 100 billion in the photovoltaic market.
Statements
Author contributions
PZ organized the database and wrote the first draft of the manuscript. ML and W-CC contributed conception and design of the study and revised the whole manuscript.
Funding
This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 52003058), Guangdong Basic and Applied Basic Research Foundation (No. 2021A1515010607).
Conflict of interest
Author PZ is employed by the Beijing JAYU New Energy Technology Development Co., Ltd.
The remaining authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.
Publisher’s note
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Summary
Keywords
perovskite, solar cells, composition engineering, process engineering, interfacial engineering, industrial progress, commercialization
Citation
Zhang P, Li M and Chen W-C (2022) A Perspective on Perovskite Solar Cells: Emergence, Progress, and Commercialization. Front. Chem. 10:802890. doi: 10.3389/fchem.2022.802890
Received
27 October 2021
Accepted
17 February 2022
Published
11 April 2022
Volume
10 - 2022
Edited by
Wenwu Qin, Northeast Normal University, China
Reviewed by
Miaoqiang Lyu, The University of Queensland, Australia
Wenlian Li, Changchun Institute of Optics, Fine Mechanics and Physics (CAS), China
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© 2022 Zhang, Li and Chen.
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*Correspondence: Menglin Li, menglinli90@bit.edu.cn; Wen-Cheng Chen, wencchen@gdut.edu.cn
This article was submitted to Solid State Chemistry, a section of the journal Frontiers in Chemistry
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