Large-Area Perovskite Solar Cells with PTAA/Ag Combination: Performance Evaluation of the Solar Cell via SCAPS 1D Simulation

Abstract

Efficient and stable large-area perovskite solar cells (PSCs) are essential for the translation of the technology. However, the fabrication of large-area PSCs remains very challenging. Uniformity and homogeneity of different layers of a device over a large area are concerning issues. Poly[bis(4-phenyl) (2,4,6-trimethylphenyl) amine] (PTAA) has shown excellency as a hole transport layer (HTL) due to its stability and homogeneity over large areas. This work focuses on large-area (2.0 cm²) PSCs using PTAA as HTL with a device structure of FTO/m-TiO₂/RbCs(MAFA)PbI₃/PTAA/Ag. This PSC yields a power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 9.35% and retains 72% of the initial PCE even after 2000 h of storage in ambient conditions, which is optimistic for the translation of the technology. The uniformity of the PTAA layer over the large area and proper band alignment at interfaces result in good performance of PSCs. A numerical model is studied for further optimization of this PSC. A large-area monolithic tandem PSC is demonstrated using RbCs (MAFA)PbI₃/PTAA combination along with a low bandgap perovskite, yielding a PCE of 21.85% with a V_OC of 1.83 V, which is quite significant for an active area of 2 cm². Therefore, this research will aid success in developing effective and stable large-area PSCs.