Flexible perovskite solar cells: advancements in materials, fabrication techniques, and future prospects

Flexible solar cells (FSCs) are a revolutionary photovoltaic innovation that possesses superior power conversion efficiencies greater than 26.7%, cost-effective production techniques, and intrinsic integration with large-scale manufacturing processes. Among various FSC technologies, flexible perovskite solar cells (FPSCs) are one of the top candidates for commercialization due to their suitability for roll-to-roll (R2R) printing techniques, making it simple to operate on a mass production scale. This review compiles an extensive summary of the advances made in FPSCs over the past few years, particularly focusing on FPSCs, examining their recent advances and performance metrics of flexible photovoltaic systems, silicon-based, dye-sensitized, organic, quantum dot, and hybrid technologies. Detailed overview of the most important components of FPSCs i.e. flexible substrates, perovskite absorber layers, charge transport materials, processing techniques, and encapsulation strategies are provided. Each material is discussed in terms of impact on device performance, efficiency, and longevity with the aim of overcoming the challenge which prevents their commercialization. Eventually, the discussion covers the future prospects of FPSCs, strategies for boosting their lab-scale performance and their potential impact on the development of flexible energy-harvesting technologies.