Monolithic Interconnection of Thin-Film Perovskite Photovoltaic Modules Using Aerosol Jet Printing

Abstract

Perovskite thin-film photovoltaic (PV) modules consist of multiple cells connected in series to reduce resistive losses in the transparent electrode. Cell interconnection is typically achieved using techniques involving laser scribing and/or precise alignment during fabrication. For perovskite modules, this interconnection is implemented monolithically by integrating three laser scribing steps into the module fabrication process. Laser scribing provides high-resolution lines (≈100–200 μm wide), necessitating equally precise or finer techniques for interconnections. Aerosol jet printing emerges as a promising solution, offering resolutions as fine as 10 μm and enabling high-speed processing. This study demonstrates the fabrication of semi-transparent monolithic perovskite modules using a combination of laser scribing and aerosol jet printing. Five interconnected cells are successfully produced, with the laser scribing process requiring ≈2 min and aerosol jet printing interconnections completed in about 7 min. The resulting perovskite PV modules with aerosol jet-printed interconnects show comparable performance to those fabricated using evaporated interconnections. Key performance metrics included an open-circuit voltage (V_OC) of 4.91 V, short-circuit current density (J_SC) of 2.41 mA cm⁻², fill factor (FF) of 44.56%, power conversion efficiency of 5.26%, and an effective area of 13.46 cm². These results highlight the potential of aerosol jet printing as an efficient and precise approach for advancing perovskite module fabrication.