Studying the effect of various contact materials in perovskite/silicon tandem solar cell

Abstract

In the last decade, Perovskite based solar cells have seen massive enhancement, as opposed to conventional silicon (Si) based solar cells. As a result, its research has attracted a lot of attention in recent times. The material, still being under extensive research, has shown much changes in power conversion efficiency due to factors such as thickness, irradiance, temperature, and etcetera. This thesis looks into the effect of different types of optical materials if used as contact materials on the open-circuit voltage, short-circuit current and power conversion efficiency, in the case of a perovskite/Si tandem solar cell. The software used for this study is GPVDM software. Built-in electrical parameters have been used in the simulation procedure and the materials changed within the layers to see the effect. The simulations utilised Maxwell-Boltzmann analysis to perform the task. The results show that the type of contact material affects the efficiency, and that different oxides give varying efficiencies. Metal contacts showed better performance when used as back contact, while oxides were more efficient on the front. The work also compares the performance of a tandem cell to the performance of a simple silicon base solar cell, where the results indicate improved performance for the tandem cells. This study will aid in understanding how perovskite/Si tandem cells behave in terms of its contact materials, so that more enhancement can be achieved and improved upon in further studies.