Prospects for Climate-Specific Design of Perovskite-Silicon Tandem Solar Cells and the Influence of Degradation Rates

The quest for optimal perovskite for tandem cell configurations is challenging, as it involves several factors ranging from device-level performance under field conditions to degradation rates and cost. Here, we first highlight the limitations of traditional detailed balance or Shockley–Queisser (SQ) analysis toward the design of Perovskite/Silicon tandem solar cells. Through well-calibrated numerical simulations, we evaluate geographic location-specific annual energy yield (EY) and quantify the influence of temperature-dependent material and transport parameters. Our results indicate that the EY scales in a near-identical manner with the top cell band gap (EgT) for various geographic locations. In comparison to SQ analysis, our simulations predict a 2-fold relaxation in the target degradation rates at which perovskites over a broad range of band gaps could yield a comparable levelized cost of electricity (LCOE). These insights are of broad interest for the development of perovskite materials and test protocols to evaluate the stability of Perovskite-Silicon tandem solar cells.