Easy Strategy to Enhance Thermal Stability of Planar PSCs by Perovskite Defect Passivation and Low-Temperature Carbon-Based Electrode

Organic–inorganic lead halide perovskite has recently emerged as an efficient absorber material for solution process photovoltaic (PV) technology, with certified efficiency exceeding 25%. The development of low-temperature (LT) processing is a challenging topic for decreasing the energy payback time of perovskite solar cell (PSC) technology. In this context, the LT planar n–i–p architecture meets all the requirements in terms of efficiency, scalability, and processability. However, the long-term stability of the LT planar PSC under heat and moisture stress conditions has not been carefully assessed. Here, a detailed study on thermal and moisture stability of large-area (1 cm2) LT planar PSCs is presented. In particular, the key role in thermal stability of potassium iodide (KI) insertion in the perovskite composition is demonstrated. It is found that defect passivation of triple-cation perovskite by KI doping inhibits the halide migration induced by thermal stress at 85 °C and delays the formation of degradation subproducts. T80, defined as the time when the cell retains 80% of initial efficiency, is evaluated both for reference undoped devices and KI-doped ones. The results show that T80 increases 3 times when KI doping is used. Moreover, an HTL-free architecture where the Au top electrode is replaced with low-T screen-printable carbon paste is proposed. The combination of the carbon-based HTL-free architecture and KI-doped perovskite permits T80 to increase from 40 to 414 h in unsealed devices.