Efficient perovskite/organic integrated solar cells with extended photoresponse to 930 nm and enhanced near-infrared external quantum efficiency of over 50%

Abstract

Enhancing the light-harvesting activity is an effective way to improve the power conversion efficiency of solar cells. Although rapid enhancement in the PCE up to a value of 22.1% has been achieved for perovskite solar cells, only part of the sunlight, i.e., with wavelengths below 800–850 nm is utilized due to the limited bandgap of the perovskite materials, resulting in most of the near infrared light being wasted. To broaden the photoresponse of perovskite solar cells, we demonstrate an efficient perovskite/organic integrated solar cell containing both CH₃NH₃PbI₃ perovskite and PBDTTT-E-T:IEICO organic photoactive layers. By integrating a low band gap PBDTTT-E-T:IEICO active layer on a perovskite layer, the maximum wavelength for light harvesting of the ISC increased to 930 nm, sharply increasing the utilization of near infrared radiation. In addition, the external quantum efficiency of the integrated device exceeded 50% in the near infrared range. The MAPbI₃/PBDTTT-E-T:IEICO ISCs show an enhanced short-circuit current density of over 24 mA cm⁻², which is the highest existing value among perovskite/organic integrated solar cells and much higher than the traditional MAPbI₃ based perovskite solar cells. The results reveal that a perovskite/organic integrated structure is a promising strategy to extend and enhance sunlight utilization for perovskite solar cells.