Spectrometric Characterization of Monolithic Perovskite/Silicon Tandem Solar Cells

In monolithic perovskite/silicon tandem solar cells, it is important to know which sub-cells is limiting the overall current to adapt the perovskite absorber thickness and bandgap accordingly. The current matching situation is usually analyzed by integrating measured external quantum efficiencies. However, this method can lead to significant errors and misinterpretations if meta-stable perovskite solar cells are involved. In this work, spectrometric characterization is presented as an alternative approach avoiding these errors. Current-voltage curves are recorded under different spectral conditions. Spectral irradiance settings are varied in a systematic way from red-shifted spectra (the perovskite top solar cell limits the current) to blue-shifted spectra (the silicon bottom solar cell limits the current) around the Air Mass 1.5 global (AM1.5g) spectrum. This method not only allows for accurate determination of the current matching point, but also gives quantitative insight in the behavior of the single sub-cells and their influence on the tandem performance. As different current mismatching also influences other global cell parameters, an example is presented where the current loss due to the current mismatch is partly compensated by a strong fill factor increase when the silicon solar cell limits the current, resulting in a high-power output also at the AM1.5g condition.