Researchers call for new perovskite PV protocols
Existing ISOS protocols should be updated to account for properties specific to perovskite technology
The existing characterisation procedures to evaluate emerging photovoltaic devices are not appropriate for halide perovskite solar cells (PSC), according to a recent open access consensus statement in Nature Energy.
The statement is the result of discussions by 59 researchers who want to update the International Summit on Organic Photovoltaic Stability (ISOS) protocols for the stability assessment of perovskite photovoltaics with additional procedures to account for properties specific to this technology.
According to Pavel Troshin, of the Skolkovo Institute of Science and Technology (Skoltech) in Russia, publications studying the stability of PSCs lack consistency in the experimental procedures used and the parameters reported, which hampers data comparison and a proper understanding of the cell degradation mechanisms.
The researchers from 51 affiliations have agreed on how the stability of perovskite cells should be assessed and reported. The discussion was led by Mónica Lira-Cantú, Group Leader of the ICN2 Nanostructured Materials for Photovoltaic Energy Group, and by Eugene A. Katz, professor at the Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Israel. Among the authors of the consensus statement are also Nam-Gyu Park and Henry J. Snaith, Nobel Prize candidates in 2017 for their discovery of the perovskite cells.
The experts have complemented the existing protocols with a set of testing procedures that account for specific features of PSCs, including light-dark-cycling, the study of cell behaviour under electrical bias in the dark or intrinsic stability testing, among others. The researchers have also proposed a checklist for reporting results aimed at improving reproducibility.
However, there is still work to be done. A technical report is a next step to pave the way for standardisation, which would be the last station in this journey from lab to industry. In the context of a society demanding green solutions for energy production, the efforts devoted to standardising the study of perovskites facilitate the advance towards a new generation of enhanced solar cells.
'Consensus statement for stability assessment and reporting for perovskite photovoltaics based on ISOS procedures' by Mark V. Khenkin et al; Nature Energy volume 5, pages35–49 (2020) http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41560-019-0529-5
