Advancing Solar Cell Efficiency: Performance Insights Into Low Lead CsPb_0.625Zn_0.375I₂Cl Perovskite Solar Cell

Utilization of solar energy for electrical power generation represents a progressive, sustainable, and environmental friendly approach. The majority of the photovoltaic (PV) industry is dominated by silicon-based solar cells, but the issues associated with silicon solar cells are their high manufacturing cost and limited power conversion efficiency (PCE). To address this issue, thin film perovskites are being explored and have emerged as super material due to incredible PV performance. Further, all inorganic perovskites have overcome the problem of low stability occurred in hybrid perovskites. Cesium based on all inorganic perovskites demonstrates high stability compared to hybrid perovskites. This study presents the application of reduced lead, all-inorganic mixed halide perovskite CsPb<inf xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">0.625</inf>Zn<inf xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">0.375</inf>I<inf xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">2</inf>Cl as a light absorber layer. The proposed solar cell used Ti02 (Titanium dioxide) as electron transport material (ETL) and Spiro-MeOTAD as hole transport material (HTL). The SCAPS-ID simulator is adopted for this solar cell design. This study presents a performance analysis of a low-lead inorganic solar cell, focusing on the impact of bulk defect as well as the thickness of the CsPb<inf xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">0.625</inf>Zn<inf xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">0.375</inf>I<inf xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">2</inf>Cl. The thickness / bulk defects of CsPb<inf xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">0.625</inf>Zn<inf xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">0.375</inf>I<inf xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">2</inf>Cl have been varied 100 nm – 1000 nm / 10<sup xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">10</sup> cm<sup xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">−3</sup> – 10<sup xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">19</sup> cm<sup xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">−3</sup> respectively. In addition, impact of illumination temperature has been analysed and reported. Findings revealed that increased bulk defects have reduced the PV performance, and the impact is more pronounced on thick absorber layer. An increase in CsPb<inf xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">0.625</inf>Zn<inf xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">0.375</inf>I<inf xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">2</inf>Cl thickness has raised the PCE, whereas temperature diminished the PV performance. With 23.26% of PCE, the device has delivered best performance, at 1000 nm / 10<sup xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">10</sup>cm-<sup xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">3</sup> of thickness and defect density.