Hybrid perovskite solar cells

Since the beginning of the Industrial Revolution, humanity’s energy consumption has continued to grow. Today, electricity has become indispensable. In 2024, 59.1% of global electricity consumption was generated from non-renewable fossil fuels, such as oil, coal, and natural gas, while 40.9% came from other energy sources: nuclear and renewables. Apart from nuclear and geothermal energy, the sun is the source of nearly all the renewable and fossil energy used by humanity for food, domestic, and industrial needs. At ~7.5 × 10¹⁷ kWh/year, solar energy—which reaches Earth at a fairly steady rate—represents approximately 4,600 times the current global energy consumption. It is therefore a very abundant and inexhaustible resource. If harnessed directly, solar energy alone would be capable of more than meeting the current needs of the world’s population. In the current context of climate change and dwindling resources, the use of renewable energy sources—and in particular solar photovoltaics (PV)—has become a priority. PV involves the direct conversion of solar energy into electrical energy. It should be noted that there are also thermal and thermodynamic methods for harvesting solar energy. This energy resource can be produced and used locally.

Various technological approaches have been developed for PV cells. The most mature technologies, which are currently industrialized and commercialized, use semiconductor materials and combinations thereof to generate electricity. The corresponding cells are “junction” cells $p-n$ .” Among the technologies that utilize these structures are monocrystalline and polycrystalline silicon, as well as thin-film technologies (amorphous/microcrystalline silicon, CIGS alloys based on copper, indium, gallium, and selenium, and CdS/CdTe). Silicon solar cells require high-purity materials that are costly, particularly in terms of energy consumption. The technology that currently holds the largest share of the PV market is crystalline silicon.

On the other hand, “disruptive” technologies have been under development for several decades. They aim to significantly reduce cell costs by relying on different operating principles, enabling the use of abundant and easy-to-process materials. These devices have not yet been deployed on a large scale. The ones that have been the subject of the most research are dye-sensitized solar cells (or Grätzel cells) and organic solar cells. Organometallic perovskite (MHP) cells have emerged more recently. Their operating principle differs from that of conventional junction cells $p-n$. They are often referred to as “exciton” cells....