Plasmonic\nNanoparticles’ Impact on Perovskite–Perovskite\nTandem Solar Cells’ Thickness and Weight

In this work, we\nreport on the plasmonic impact of metal nanoparticles\nof different compositions, sizes, vertical positions, concentrations,\nand shell thicknesses dispersed inside the mixed (lead–tin)\nnarrow-band gap (NBG) perovskite layer of perovskite–perovskite\ntandem solar cells (TPSCs) on TPSCs’ (i) NBG thickness reduction,\n(ii) absorption, and (iii) power-per-weight output (PPW) enhancement.\nThe aim is to establish guidelines for the highly promising development\nof efficient, viable, and environmentally friendly plasmonic-enhanced\ntandem solar cells and examine metal nanoparticles’ plasmonic\nand weight impact on the PPW output of solar cells and tandem configurations\nby means of a detailed numerical analysis and optimization procedure\non TPSC architectures. Based on the high NBG thickness reductions\npredicted (>650 nm, >60% decrease) and PPW increase (+14 W/g,\n∼50%\nimprovement) under current matching conditions with the front wide-band\ngap subcell, results indicate that enhanced light-trapping (due to\nlocalized surface-plasmon effects) combined with metal nanoparticles\nsimplicity at processing provide a means to attain efficient and viable\nTPSCs using NBG films much thinner than those usually employed (>1\nμm), thus facilitating collection of photocarriers, reducing\ncost and the amount of potentially toxic lead–tin present in\nthe device, and enhancing PPW output. The detailed theoretical analysis\nserves as a guide for various applications that can benefit from the\nplasmonic effect and band gap tunability, including photovoltaics\nof different materials (e.g., perovskite-organic tandems), PPW applications,\nlight-emitting diodes, and sensors, also further promoting the viability\nof TPSCs in emerging applications such as space applications, portable/wearable\nelectronics, automobiles, or other applications where there is a stringent\nlimitation on the PPW ratio of the photovoltaic panel.