Transition of Perovskite Solar Technologies to Being Flexible

Abstract

Perovskite technologies has taken giant steps on its advances in only a decade time, from fundamental science to device engineering. The possibility to exploit this technology on a thin flexible substrate gives an unbeatable power to weight ratio compares to similar photovoltaic systems, opening new possibilities and new integration concepts, going from building integrated and applied photovoltaics (BIPV, BAPV) to internet of things (IoT). In this perspective, the recent progress of perovskite solar technologies on flexible substrates are summarized, focusing on the challenges that researchers face upon using flexible substrates. A dig into material science is necessary to understand what kind of mechanisms are limiting its efficiency compare to rigid substrates, and which physical mechanism limits the upscaling on flexible substrate. Furthermore, an overview of stability test on flexible modules will be described, suggesting common standard procedure and guidelines to follow, showing additional issues that flexible modules face upon bending, and how to prevent device degradation providing an ad-hoc encapsulation. Finally, the recent advances of flexible devices in the perovskite market will be shown, giving an outline of how this technology is exploited on flexible substrates, and what are still missing that need stakeholders’ attention.