Perovskite solar cells: device construction and I-V hysteresis

Abstract

Research into organic-inorganic metal halide perovskite solar cells has swiftly gained momentum since the seminal work initiated by Kojima et al. in 2009, and already has delivered impressive accredited power conversion efficiency of over 17.9% within 5 years. In much previously reported research, the I-V characteristics was found to vary to a great extent with sweeping direction, which is known as I-V hysteresis. Further investigations have identified that the I-V hysteresis is also related to scanning speed, starting voltage and light soaking. We correlate such a phenomenon to different device structures and several possible causes were analyzed herein. A reliable test to obtain valid power conversion efficiency, which is to hold the device under a maximum power voltage is recommended for future research regarding this newly emerged technology.