There are indeed long-term studies and comprehensive reviews focusing on the efficiency degradation of perovskite solar cells (PSCs). These studies analyze the fundamental degradation mechanisms, operational challenges, and strategies to improve long-term stability:
Key Findings from Long-Term Studies on Perovskite Solar Cell Degradation
- Instability Mechanisms: Perovskite solar cells suffer from chemical decomposition pathways triggered by factors such as light soaking, electrical bias, and thermal stress. These lead to degradation of the perovskite material and impact device performance over time. Ion migration and trapped charges within the cell are identified as fundamental causes of permanent degradation.
- Thermal Stress as a Critical Factor: Recent research highlights thermal stress as the decisive factor in long-term degradation, especially under the multiple thermal cycles encountered in real-world outdoor conditions. Thermal stress affects the microstructure of perovskite layers and their interfaces, accelerating degradation.
- Degradation Pathways: Degradation occurs intrinsically (due to the molecular and crystalline instability of the perovskite material itself) and extrinsically (due to environmental factors and interactions between cell components such as electrodes and encapsulants).
- Modeling and Experimental Correlation: Advanced modeling approaches like drift-diffusion models have been used to understand how degradation affects electrical parameters (current-voltage, impedance) and to predict device lifespan under operational stress.
- Improvement Strategies: Based on the understanding of degradation mechanisms, many recent studies propose various approaches to mitigate degradation. These include engineering the perovskite composition, improving carrier management, developing better encapsulation techniques, and reducing ion migration through materials and interface design.
Summary
While perovskite solar cells have demonstrated high efficiencies (up to ~27%), their stability over decades remains a challenge for commercialization. Long-term studies show degradation is primarily driven by ion migration, trapped charges, chemical decomposition under illumination and electric field, and thermal stress cycling. Ongoing research combines fundamental understanding with advanced modeling and material engineering to extend their operational lifetime closer to that of traditional silicon photovoltaics, aiming to achieve stable power output for 20-30 years as required for practical applications.
Thus, there is an active field of long-term investigations and reviews dedicated to understanding and mitigating efficiency degradation in perovskite solar cells. These studies provide valuable insights into the pathways and solutions relevant for making PSCs commercially viable in the future.
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