Transforming characterization data into information in the case of perovskite solar cells

In many emerging solar cell technologies, it is a significant challenge to extract the electronic properties of materials and interfaces inside a working device from experimental data. In many cases, approaches frequently used in mature technologies such as crystalline silicon are inapplicable as they require many material parameters to be known a-priori, which is rarely the case for novel materials. Based on this challenge for material and device characterization, this perspective discusses the different strategies for data interpretation that have been developed or are in the process of being developed for the specific case of halide perovskite solar cells. The specific focus of this work is to discriminate between experimental data and strategies to extract useful information from data. This information can then be used to make informed decisions about strategies for process and material innovations.