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| Fig. 1: The Progression of Power Conversion Efficiency Over the Years. Image source: I. Chen, after Afroz et al. [4] |
Solar energy is a nondepletable green energy source with low environment and climate impact compared to fossil fuels and has become the major long-term energy choice for space application, including satellites, space stations, and spaceships.
Perovskite Solar Cells (PSCs) are part of the third generation of solar cells posed as a revolutionary alternative to silicon-based precedents for their superior power conversion efficiency (PCE) and cost-effectiveness. [1] Additionally, PSCs, made of metal halide perovskites, hold advantage over the older generations with high absorption coefficients, defect tolerance, high radiative recombination rates and printable film architecture. Combined with low costs of fabrication and highly abundant availability, PSCs have great potential to become widely used for green energy and space exploration.
Policies and financial incentives for implementing solar electricity generation have spurred intense research in improving solar PCE and stability of PSCs. [2] The progression of perovskite solar technology, combined with its potential for scalable and affordable manufacturing, establishes a promising outlook for cost-effective renewable energy on earth and in space.
PSCs are of significant interest in the field of Photovoltaics (PV) due to their superior semiconductor properties. The first-generation silicon-based crystalline cells are widely implemented with a 17%-18% PCE. The second-generation thin film-based solar cells consist of copper indium gallium silicon (CIGS) and cadmium tellurium (CdTe) materials. These cells are more cost-effective, but the toxic hazards of cadmium and low supply of tellurium and indium makes wide scale industrial use difficult. When a PSC in 2012 achieved a PCE of 9.7%, fervent research towards developing PSCs began. [3]
The fundamental properties of perovskites define their strengths in having high absorption coefficients and high defect tolerance. The general molecular formula for perovskite is ABX3 as shown in Table 1:
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| Table 1: The General Structure Chemical Formula for a Perovskite, ABX3. [4] |
Peroskites are the fundamental makeup of PSCs and contribute to their high PCE. PCE measures the effectiveness of sunlight converted into electricity by a ratio of the electrical power output to the solar energy input.
Perovskites embody a high absorption coefficient greater than 105 cm-1, high defect tolerance, and long carrier diffusion lengths (reaching 100 µm for single crystals). Defects in perovskites, occurring through iodine or lead (II) ion vacancies, have high tolerance as the defect trap states are shallow. Thus, carrier collection remains rapid despite present imperfections in the structure. These characteristics may be explained by the bulk photovoltaic effects, carrier-lattice interactions, and intrinsic ferroelectricity of the properties. Perovskite technology has progressed meteorically, accelerating a PCE of 3.8% in 2009 to 26% in 2024 (Fig. 1). [4]
To compare the costs of different SC types, the levelized cost of electricity (LCOE) is considered. LCOE calculates the cost to produce electricity over the lifespan of a solar cell by taking maintenance, operating, and installation costs. A comparison of the LCOE between polycrystalline silicon single-junction SC, planar perovskite single-junction SC, silicon/perovskite tandem SC and perovskite/perovskite SC finds the higher LCOE corresponding to the traditional silicone module ($0.055 per kWh). Perovskite/perovskite modules have a lower LCOE ($0.0422 per kWh) and planar perovskite SC have a LCOE of $0.0434 per kWh. The study shows that PSC achieves lower electricity generation costs than traditional silicon modules, highlighting superior cost- effectiveness. [5]
The PCE curve of perovskites in Fig. 1 illustrates the rapid growth in the past two decades for efficiency, with the theoretical upper efficiency limit for their commercial use being 33.7% (the Shockley-Queisser limit). [6] Improvements to PSC stems from a combination of advancements in materials science, fabrication technologies such as cesium doping and electron transport layers developments that reached higher PCE and stability. The compositional engineering of tuning the site components A, X and B aided in the expeditious advancement.
Perovskites present manufacturing scalability due to its cost-effective and abundant elements that require simpler processes in manufacturing compared to silicon-based solar cells. The raw materials to form perovskites are common elements found on Earth and are more abundant than the required high-purity crystalline silicon needed for traditional cells. While sands need to be heated to temperatures greater than 1,000°C to produce silicon solar cells which is an energy-intensive process, perovskites only require wet chemistry without evacuated environment conditions. [7] A common perovskite film synthesizing process is by a one-step spin-coating method which blends CH3NH3X powder with PbX2. Another common method is a two-step method which coats lead iodide (PbI2) over TiO2 then dipping in a CH3NH3X solution, resulting in solar cells with higher PCE rates. Both of these methods tout better control for the morphology and crystallinity of perovskites. Other techniques such as inkjet printing produces perovskite film with meniscus assisted solution printing, gaining 20% efficiency because of the controllable crystal sizing and orientation through printing. [8] These fabrication techniques are suitable for mass production.
Before full scale implementation, PSCs have a few areas for improvement such as their stability which gallium arsenide and crystalline silicon cells currently surpass. [9] The element abundance required to form perovskites, along with the low-energy coating techniques exhibit why perovskites are capable of scalable and affordable manufacturing in countries besides China. A study conducted in 2024 reported that China dominates silicon-based solar cell production, producing over 80% of the PV components used globally, especially assisted with abundant rare earth elements located geographically in the region and superior methods for extraction. [10]
Despite the remarkable improvements in PSCs in efficiencies and advantages in lifetime costs over traditional silicon SCs, the toxicity of PSCs contribute to a major barrier in wide-scale implementation. As mentioned in Table 1, PSCs contain lead, an element toxic to human health and the environment. Any leakage from damaged SCs, stemming from natural events occurring such as fires, wind, and environmental abrasion, pose a major detrimental risk to ecosystems. Until PSCs can become lead-free, or if lead-based PSCs become fully encapsulated, large-scale applications deployment of PSCs may not be fully commercially nor environmentally viable yet. [11]
It is foreseeable that the progress in the application of PSCs in space exploration will be very important. PSCs combine high specific power (power-to-weight ratio), defect and radiation tolerance, and low temperature solution based fabrication on ultralight flexible substrates. These qualities provide a potential alternative to the silicon arrays which are flown on the International Space Station (ISS) and the highly efficient but costly and rigid III-V triple-junction devices common on satellites. [12]
In 2021, metal-halide perovskite films flew externally on the ISS (MISSE-13) for 10 months in low earth orbit. The first test of perovskite films in space by NASA and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory demonstrated minimal degradation and little damage on the films, and remained functional after the experiment duration. The flight sample endured 15 hours of light soaking yet did not show defect induced spectral broadening. Results indicated that the temperature range to retain stable emission energy and recombination properties widened based on the material's transition into the orthorhombic phase occurring at a temperature 65K lower. [13]
Challenges for space applications include ensuring stability for long term missions where radiation and thermal extremes are present, as well as maturing lead-free panels such as Sn-based perovskites to decrease hazardous risks. So far, solar cells have been discussed for conventional panel array forms with rigid composites. However, the weight and volume of the frames adds to the challenge of mission reliability for space missions. Therefore, roll-out solar arrays are developing, consisting of lightweight panels that roll out after deployment. A flexible PSC for low earth orbit was developed and evaluated, concluding that the triple cation perovskite maintained proton and electron radiation tolerance compared to glass-based panels. [14] This example represents different technologies under development to bring perovskites to a feasible stage for use in space.
The third generation perovskite-based solar cell technology exceeding predecessors in many areas, combined with its inherent suitability for scalable manufacturing have made PSCs as a front runner alternative and feasible solution for renewable energy. The rapid developments in PCE over the last two decades has substantiated the high potential of PSCs. Furthermore, the abundant raw materials and low-energy manufacturing techniques such as inkjet printing reduce production costs. With these outstanding performance qualities, PSCs are competitive for powering space applications. Perovskites play a pivotal role in the future of solar energy for photovoltaic performance to power systems on earth and in space. Perovskite technology is not fully mature yet, especially with the toxic lead-based PSCs acting as a barrier for commercial usability. However, based on the past trends in development with the current drive and effort in research along with lower LCOE compared to traditional silicon SCs, PCSs may reach full-scale deployment soon.
© Ivana Chen. The author warrants that the work is the author's own and that Stanford University provided no input other than typesetting and referencing guidelines. The author grants permission to copy, distribute and display this work in unaltered form, with attribution to the author, for noncommercial purposes only. All other rights, including commercial rights, are reserved to the author.
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