Introduction to in-situ produced perovskite solar cells

Starting from the glass frit procedure developed to seal dye solar cells, research is being conducted at Fraunhofer ISE on optimizing and upscaling the principle of perovskite solar cells by an in-situ coating method. A process is proposed, in which the porous substrate films can be filled in sequence with the dissolved active materials of the perovskite solar cell. By varying the porosity and the particle size in the substrate films, the active materials can be deposited in a self-organised process by capillary forces, and form the solar cell after drying. Specially designed structures in the glass substrate make the transport and inert drying of the solvent feasible. The procedure will enable future perovskite solar modules to be produced with minimal consumption of resources and at very low costs. In this paper, we report and comment on our results from proof of principle and about the on-going work in this new area.