ICN2 #StayAtHome Seminar: Current Approaches for Perovskite Solar Cells Stability Studies

by Àlex Argemí

Now available on YouTube! The ICN2 Group led by Prof. Mónica Lira Cantu hosted on 17 April 2020 a webinar to discuss about good practices on conducting and reporting stability studies specifically tailored for perovskite solar cells. The event was co-hosted by Prof. Eugene A. Katz, from the Ben-Gurion University of the Negev. Its dynamic format included short presentations by international young experts and was organised by Dr Haibing Xie (ICN2) and Dr Mark Khenkin (HZB).

Improving the operational stability of perovskite solar cells (PSCs) is one of the most pressing challenges in emerging photovoltaics today. Intensive research work worldwide resulted in an impressive improvement from barely several minutes to more than 1000 hours of MPP tracking under one sun illumination. However, it is still far away from the target values and further progress requires combined efforts from the research community. Unlike efficiency measurements, stability experiments might take very diverse forms and have a broad range of parameters to take care of. This makes it difficult to reproduce and compare the results between different groups.

Recently a consensus between a number of researches active in the PSC stability field was reached regarding good practices on conducting and reporting stability studies specifically tailored for PSCs. At this ICN2 #StayAtHme webinar, five co-authors introduced these consensus procedures and elaborated on the key aspects of stability studies. This includes topics of intrinsic PSC stability (i.e. under inert atmosphere), challenges of device encapsulation, outdoor stability, acceleration factors in different ageing experiments, and experience in round-robin experiments.

The event consisted of short presentations followed up by a questions and answers session:

Introduction by Prof. Mónica Lira Cantu (ICN2) and Prof. Eugene A. Katz (Ben-Gurion University of the Negev).
"Consensus for stability testing of perovskite solar cells" - Mark Khenkin, Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin für Materialien und Energie GmbH, Berlin, Germany
"The quest for stability of perovskite solar cells: new approaches to understanding degradation" - Konrad Domanski, Fluxim AG, Winterthur, Switzerland
"Encapsulating perovskite solar cells towards 25-year lifetime" - Rongrong Cheacharoen, Metallurgy and Materials Science Research Institute, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok, Thailand
"Reliability modelling through accelerated testing of next generation solar cells" - Jeffrey Kettle, Bangor University, North Wales, UK
"Perovskite solar cells stability: an inter-laboratory assessment" - Francesca Brunetti, CHOSE (Centre for Hybrid and Organic Solar Energy), Department of Electronic Engineering, University of Rome Tor Vergata, Rome, Italy

Watch the full webinar in the ICN2 YouTube channel: https://youtu.be/oU_DInslfHI