Potential-Induced Degradation and Recovery of Perovskite Solar Cells

Abstract

In recent years, metal halide perovskite solar cells have become a major competitor in the run to lower the levelized cost of electricity (LCOE) of photovoltaic (PV) systems. Commercialization of this new technology mainly depends on the long-term stability of such devices, for which potential-induced degradation (PID) may represent a factor of detrimental impact. Since PID can trigger rapid and significant losses in PV systems, it is generally considered among the most critical failure modes with a high financial repercussion. In this work, we report results of PID tests on perovskite solar cells for the very first time. The solar cells are found to be extremely susceptible to PID: 18 hours of high voltage stress according to the PID standard IEC62804 shows a performance degradation of up to 95%, which mainly resulted from a decrease in short circuit current. Our results also uncover near full PID recoverability and pave the way towards further research into its mechanisms, kinetics, and mitigation.