Direct Integration of Perovskite Solar Cells with Carbon Fiber Substrates

Onkar S. Game, Timothy Thornber, Fernando Cepero-Mejías, Luis C. Infante-Ortega, Mustafa Togay, Elena J. Cassella, Rachel C. Kilbride, Robert H. Gordon, Nic Mullin, Rachael C. Greenhalgh, Patrick J.M. Isherwood, J. Michael Walls, J. Patrick A. Fairclough, David G. Lidzey

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Abstract

Integrating photovoltaic devices onto the surface of carbon-fiber-reinforced polymer substrates should create materials with high mechanical strength that are also able to generate electrical power. Such devices are anticipated to find ready applications as structural, energy-harvesting systems in both the automotive and aeronautical sectors. Here, the fabrication of triple-cation perovskite n–i–p solar cells onto the surface of planarized carbon-fiber-reinforced polymer substrates is demonstrated, with devices utilizing a transparent top ITO contact. These devices also contain a “wrinkled” SiO2 interlayer placed between the device and substrate that alleviates thermally induced cracking of the bottom ITO layer. Devices are found to have a maximum stabilized power conversion efficiency of 14.5% and a specific power (power per weight) of 21.4 W g−1 (without encapsulation), making them highly suitable for mobile power applications.

Original languageEnglish
Article number2209950
Pages (from-to)(In-Press)
Number of pages9
JournalAdvanced Materials
Volume(In-Press)
Early online date31 Mar 2023
DOIs
Publication statusE-pub ahead of print - 31 Mar 2023
Externally publishedYes

Bibliographical note

This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Funder

This work was funded by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) grant EP/S009213/1 (The Integration of Photovoltaic Devices with
Carbon-Fiber Composites). E.J.C. thanks the EPSRC for a PhD studentship
from grant EP/L01551X/1 (Centre for Doctoral Training in New and Sustainable PV). R.H.G thanks the EPSRC for a PhD studentship from grant EP/T012455/1 (Molecular Photonic Breadboards). T.T. thanks the University of Sheffield for the provision of a PhD studentship.

Keywords

  • carbon-fiber-reinforced polymers
  • integrated photovoltaics
  • perovskite solar cells
  • specific power
  • structural photovoltaics

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Materials Science(all)
  • Mechanics of Materials
  • Mechanical Engineering

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